Japan’s health-care system is the envy of the world. It is also in crisis

In some business production activities in Japan, there are complex rules, plenty of small players and very limited motivation to enhance. The physicians are very limited which is about one third less than the standard rich-world, comparative to all the inhabitants because of the allocation of the states. Lack of doctors has become a serious problem in rural areas and in particular specialities like surgeons, pediatrics and obstetrics. Lack of pediatrics and obstetrics are given emphasis on the low birth rate of Japan but medical professionals say that they really appeared because salary is somewhat determined by the quantity of medical examinations and drug prescriptions, and there are small number of these for children and pregnant women. Doctors exert their effort for quite low salary about 125,000 dollars a year at mid-career. A doctor in his 30’s says he’s working 100 hours a week.

Urgent health needs is usually poor. In some cities, it is normal for ambulances to drift away in the public road to look for emergency rooms that can fill in a patient. In some instances, people died because of this scenario. The problem of insufficient emergency care is the increase of clinics rather than hospitals because physicians choose to build their own clinics in order to decrease their work load and earn bigger money.

The health care system is slow to embrace the most advanced stage treatments. According to OECD, modern drugs are immediately accepted in Indonesia or Turkey. Limited information is gathered on how patients reacted to medication. Lancet says, the cost is greatly managed but the quality is not. Japan will have a difficulty to build medical tourism as their foundation for economic growth.

The Japanese are fairly proud of their health care system. The citizens benefit from an essential medical assistance and never ran out of money by medical fees. Without extensive reduction of expenses and improvement of profitability, and renovation, the health care system in Japan will face a greater decline.

D. Chang

 Toby Kim

          Throughout the history of earth, mankind has certainly earned the zenith of the food web of every creature on earth. Now, human is indomitable species that controls almost every part on the globe. How did we manage to grow as the most powerful animal on earth? We did not have any sharp claws or strong legs or wings. What did we have that no other animals possessed? The answer is in our heads.

            From the beginning of adaptations, unlike other kinds of animals, humans used tools. Since we let our hands free by walking on two legs, we freely used our hand to manipulate tools and even use the fire. The most important aspect that differentiates human and animal, we can say, is the use of language. Unlike animals, humans are able to express their ideas or emotional feelings through various types of languages such as body language or verbal language. We can also plan, reason and deeply think about things. We are aware of the meaning of life and death. We can also love and share dreams, goals and aspirations. All of these were the driving forces that led us to the current position in the world. These were all possible because our brains are different than those of other animals.

            What special structure distinguished us humans from other creatures? The most recognizable difference is the weight of our brains. Most people mistakenly assume that human has the heaviest brain. However, human does not have the heaviest brain. Humans don’t even have the highest weight of their brains in proportions to their bodies. We do have pretty heavy brains, but they do not explain everything. Structurally, we do have a more complex brain structure and the nerve center. However, it is an only slight difference that seems almost negligible.

Actually, there is no perfect biological evidence that explains the emotional expression and other aspects of mankind. There is also no perfect physiological evidence that explains the human’s mind. Human brain is still a field of mystery. Biologists are still trying to make great strides forward in discovering the real function of brain. The study in neuroscience has just begun. We would have to wait until the near future to completely understand the structure and the function of human brain.