BMJ  2005;330:310-311 (5 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7486.310-c

Letter

Another lesson from the Japan Medical Association

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Kondo describes one aspect of the Japan Medical Association in its relationship with Japanese politics, emphasising the importance of transforming itself from a lobby group to an academically grounded professional association.¹

His editorial did not mention the association's international efforts. Since 1984 it has tried to improve the quality of health professionals in the world through the Takemi programme at the Department of Population and International Health at Harvard School of Public Health. It also initiated an international health project in rural Nepal to narrow the gap between the urban rich and the rural poor from 1992 to 2005. I was director of this school and community health from 1996 to 2001 and learnt how communities could improve health systems in rural Nepal.²

As a result of the project's activities in rural Nepal, King Birendra awarded a medal to Eitaka Tsuboi, then president of the Japan Medical Association, . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of International Community Health, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan mjimba@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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