Doctors

In October, an emergent pregnant woman died after refusing admission from eight hospitals in Tokyo. As I was concerned in a previous entry (http://shinkammy.blogspot.com/2008/02/obstetrical-and-pediatric-problems.html), the maternity services did not work properly even for women who had regular prenatal checkups.

Mr. Nikai, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, said the issue is not a political but is due to moral of doctors. Additionally, the Prime Minister Aso attributed the issue to doctors themselves. He also said that they lack in a common sense. These statements made a lot of doctors upset.

Doctors have different opinions over whether their number should be increased. Many of them worry about their situations and oppose the policy. They insist that improving their working conditions is more crucial rather than increasing the number. Indeed, increased dentists in 1970s led a serious issue of excess dentists in Japan.

In contrast to the shortage of medical doctor, the issue of excess postdoc is not a matter of public concern. In August, the members of "the waste destruction project team" of the Liberal Democratic Party singled out the project "promotion of career-path diversity for postdocs" as a wasteful, useless one. They mocked postdocs that foisting incapable doctors on businesses will bother and inconvenience many employers. Postdocs ought to establish their career path by themselves.

According to OECD Education at a Glance 2008 (http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2008), a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the total expenditure of Japan on education was 3.4% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005. Japan ranked bottom in 28 OECD member countries.
At the same time, OECD Health Data 2008 (http://www.oecd.org/health/healthdata) shows that total health spending of Japan accounted for 8.2% of GDP in 2005. The value was lower than the OECD average and ranked 21st among those of 30 OECD countries.