Ensuring a healthy lifestyle for the increasing number of Vietnamese migrants living in Japan is a key public health issue, including infectious disease responses such as tuberculosis (TB). To develop risk communication in relation to the TB response, this study aimed to explore the health issues and health-related behaviors of Vietnamese migrants living in Japan using a mixed method. A survey was conducted on Vietnam-born migrants, aged 18 years and over, in Tokyo. The survey consisted of questions on the following components: (1) demographics; (2) health-related issues and behavior; and (3) health-seeking behavior, information, and communication. A total 165 participants participated in the survey. The majority of the participants were young adults. 13% of the participants responded that they were concerned about their health. Moreover, 22% and 7% of the participants reported weight loss and respiratory symptoms, respectively. 44% of the participants answered they had no one to consult about their health in Japan when they needed it, and 58% answered they had no awareness of any Vietnamese-language health consultation services. Logistic regression analysis revealed that people who contact family members living in Vietnam or overseas using social networking services (SNSs) when they needed to consult someone about their health (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 6.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52–24.43) were more likely to present with one or more of the typical TB symptoms, compared to those who did not consult someone in this manner. Current smokers (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.15–8.23) were more likely to have health problems compared to non-smokers. The key informant interviews revealed that individual factors, the health system, and socio-environmental factors may hinder Vietnamese migrants’ health-seeking and health-information-seeking behaviors in Japan. TB risk communication approaches for migrants need to be developed considering their health-related behaviors while addressing their health needs.

This study aimed to describe characteristics and treatment outcomes of overseas-born pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients in Japan, and identify the factors associated with “treatment non-success”. We conducted a retrospective analysis of overseas-born patients with drug-susceptible PTB using cohort data of PTB cases newly registered in the Japan tuberculosis (TB) surveillance system between 2009 and 2018. Overall, 9151 overseas-born PTB cases were included in this study, and 70.3% were aged 34 years old or younger. “Students of high school and higher” (28.6%) and “regular workers other than service related sectors” (28.5%) accounted for over half of the study population, and they have continued to increase. Overall, the treatment success rate was 67.1%. Transferred-out constituted the largest proportion (14.8%) among the treatment non-success rate (32.9%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed patients whose health insurance type was “others and unknown”, including the uninsured (adjusted OR (AOR) = 3.43: 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) 2.57–4.58), those diagnosed as TB within “one year” (AOR = 2.61, 95% CI 1.97–3.46) and “1–5 years” (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI 1.88–3.17) of arrival in Japan, and males (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.16–1.54), which were the main factors associated with treatment non-success. These findings imply that Japan needs to develop TB control activities considering the increasing trends of overseas-born PTB patients, the majority of whom are young and highly mobile. There is a need to pay greater attention to overseas-born PTB patients diagnosed within a short duration after entering Japan, who may be socially and economically disadvantaged for their treatment completion.

Background: Japan strives to strengthen its development cooperation by mobilizing various resources to assist partner countries advance on Universal Health Coverage by 2030. However, the involvement and roles of various actors for health are not clear. This study is the first to map Japan’s publicly funded projects by both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other non-ODA public funds, and to describe the intervention areas. Further, the policy implications for country-specific cooperation strategies are discussed. The development cooperation for health in Vietnam is used as a case in this study. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the Japanese publicly funded health projects that were being implemented in Vietnam during December 2016 was conducted. A framework of analysis based on the World Health Organization six health systems building blocks was adopted. The projects’ qualitative information was also assessed. Results: Overall, 68 projects implemented through Japanese public funding were analyzed. These 68 projects under 15 types of schemes were managed by seven different scheme-operating organizations and funded by five ministries. Of these 44 (64.7%) were ODA and 24 (35.3%) were non-ODA projects. Among the recategorized six building blocks of the health system, the largest proportion of projects was health service delivery (44%), followed by health workforces (25%), and health information systems (15%). Almost half the projects were implemented together with the central hospitals as Vietnamese counterparts, which suggests that this is one area in which the specificities of Japanese cooperation are demonstrated. No synergetic effects of potential collaboration or harmonization among Japanese funded projects were captured. Conclusions: Several Japanese-funded projects addressed a wide range of health issues across all six building blocks of the health system in Vietnam. However, there is room for improvement in developing coordination and harmonization among the diversified Japanese projects. Establishing a country-specific mechanism for strategic coordination across Japanese ministries’ schemes can yield efficient and effective development cooperation for health. While Vietnam’s dependence on external funding is low, the importance of coordination across domestic actors of the donor countries can serve as an important lesson, especially in beneficiary countries with high external funding dependency.

Background: Addressing tuberculosis (TB) among migrants from high-burden countries is important for the health of migrants and for public health in low-TB-burden countries. Therefore, approaches that enable migrants to access TB diagnostic services and care early are required. To develop TB risk communication for migrants from high-TB-burden countries, this study aimed to assess Vietnamese migrants’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards TB and its association with health-seeking behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Vietnam-born migrants aged 18 years and older in two cities in Japan. A self-administered online survey consisted of questions on demographics, health-related issues and behaviors, and the KAP towards TB. Participants who would not seek healthcare even if they had TB symptoms were categorized as having "non-health-seeking behavior", and related factors were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 230 Vietnamese migrants participated in this study. Technical intern trainees (46.1%) and workers (28.7%) comprised the majority of the participants. Overall, 73.9% believed that persons infected with TB were infectious, and 46.1% reported concerns about being diagnosed with TB. Their concerns included maintaining employment and continuing schooling during treatment. Ten percent of the participants stated that they would not consult a doctor even if they developed TB symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who believed that TB could not be cured were significantly more likely to exhibit non-health-seeking behavior (adjusted odds ratio: 3.12, 95% confidence interval 1.14–8.52) compared to those who believed TB could be cured. Conclusions: Tailored TB risk communication should address migrants’ misconceptions and concerns regarding TB in the host countries. Further efforts are needed to improve TB knowledge through TB education and to disseminate information before and after migration. Creating a supportive environment, such as language assistance and work- and school-related social support, is also needed to facilitate the early detection of TB and healthcare access among migrants.

BackgroundTo achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which is the core driver of health Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by 2030, Japan strives to strengthen its development cooperation by mobilizing various resources. However, the involvement and roles of various actors from Japan in development cooperation for health have not been revealed across various entities of the Japanese government or to the public. This study is the first to systematically assess the overall picture of Japan’s publicly funded cooperation mobilizing Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA public resources to improve people’s health in Vietnam. MethodsA cross-sectional analysis of Japanese publicly funded projects implemented for health cooperation in Vietnam during December 2016 was conducted. A framework based on the six building blocks of health system defined by the World Health Organization was adopted in order to assess the target projects. ResultsOverall, 68 projects implemented through Japanese public funding were included in the final analysis. These 68 projects under 15 types of schemes were managed by seven different scheme-operating organizations and funded by five ministries. Forty-four of these (64.7 %) were ODA and 24 (35.3 %) were non-ODA projects. Among the recategorized six building blocks of the health system, the focus area of the largest proportion of projects was health service delivery (44 %), followed by health workforces (25 %) and health information systems (15 %). Almost half the projects were implemented together with the central hospitals as Vietnamese counterparts. Only 10 % projects were conducted at the local level. This study was unable to capture the synergetic effects of potential collaboration or harmonization among Japanese funded projects.ConclusionsSeveral Japanese-funded projects addressed a wide range of health issues across all six building blocks of the health system in Vietnam. However, there is room for improvement in developing coordination and harmonization among the Japanese projects that are diversifying. Furthermore, establishing a target-country-specific mechanism for strategic coordination across Japanese ministries’ schemes can yield efficient and effective development cooperation for health. Our analytic approach using the recategorized six building blocks contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of efforts on strengthening the health system.

Background To achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which is the core driver of health Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by 2030, Japan strives to strengthen its development cooperation by mobilizing various resources. However, the involvement and roles of various actors from Japan in development cooperation for health have not been revealed across various entities of the Japanese government or to the public. This study is the first to systematically assess the overall picture of Japan’s publicly funded cooperation mobilizing Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA public resources to improve people’s health in Vietnam. A cross-sectional analysis of Japanese publicly funded projects implemented for health cooperation in Vietnam during December 2016 was conducted. A framework based on the six building blocks of health system defined by the World Health Organization was adopted in order to assess the target projects. Results Overall, 68 projects implemented through Japanese public funding were included in the final analysis. These 68 projects under 15 types of schemes were managed by seven different scheme-operating organizations and funded by five ministries. Forty-four of these (64.7%) were ODA and 24 (35.3%) were non-ODA projects. Among the recategorized six building blocks of the health system, the focus area of the largest proportion of projects was health service delivery (44%), followed by health workforces (25%) and health information systems (15%). Almost half the projects were implemented together with the central hospitals as Vietnamese counterparts. Only 10% projects were conducted at the local level. This study was unable to capture the synergetic effects of potential collaboration or harmonization among Japanese funded projects. Conclusions Several Japanese-funded projects addressed a wide range of health issues across all six building blocks of the health system in Vietnam. However, there is room for improvement in developing coordination and harmonization among the Japanese projects that are diversifying. Furthermore, establishing a target-country-specific mechanism for strategic coordination across Japanese ministries’ schemes can yield efficient and effective development cooperation for health. Our analytic approach using the recategorized six building blocks contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of efforts on strengthening the health system.