What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project? The Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health (BSWPH), Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is the government organization that handles public health issues and research in the city of Tokyo. In addition, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health (TMIPH) seems to contribute to policy, research, governance, etc.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health? The Tokyo Municipal Government (TMG) has created annual reports, available on the BSWPH English website, characterizing general Social Health and Welfare. In the 2014 report the TMG laid claims to conducting research on the connection between air pollutants and asthma. They have also established medical subsidization plans for people living in Tokyo for an extended period of time who contract air pollution-related illnesses, which includes asthma. The TMIPH has done research revolving around radiation in the city of Tokyo.
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed? 2011- The Tokyo Metropolitan area was surveyed for radioactive doses. The doses ranged from 0.07-0.09 sieverts, depending on how far above the ground the measurement was taken. These dosages are lower than the dosage a person would receive from a chest x-ray (0.10 sieverts). 1964- R. Beard, R. Horton, and R. McCaldin publish Observations on Tokyo-Yokohama Asthma and Air Pollution in Japan in the Publich Health Reports Journal (Vol. 79, No. 5) This article describes U.S. soldiers contracting asthma-like symptoms while occupying the Tokyo-Yokohama area. These soldiers no longer had this issue once they left the area. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1915438/?page=1# http://theasthmafiles.org/node/1582
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches? No, there is no obvious or direct claim made by either the BSWPH or the TMIPH indicating a new or different approach than what has been seen in the past.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created? The BSWPH's main data collection was used for the aforementioned 2014 Annual Report. Below: Graph of Amount of Patients receiving medical subsidization for air pollution attributed illnesses.
Map of the Tokyo area, including radiation monitoring posts. 6. What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade? The BSWPH and the TMIPH appear to work either in collaboration or closely, to produce research and data. These research projects include a study on relating air pollution and asthma, and observing radioactive doses around Tokyo. Neither website is fully equipped to inform the public. The BSWPH has an incredibly limited site, with a few links to an annual report and a TMIPH study. The TMIPH seems to have an accessible website, aside from the fact that there is no English version.
7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care? The BSWPH works with the national Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare to develop more widespread hospital access and better care. The TMIPH has to keep up with their radioactive dosage monitoring stations across the city. That would require ready technological assistance, and appropriate communicative infrastructure to be able to relay significant data.
8. What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? Tokyo is a relatively high-income area, but has a growing poverty rate (15.7% as of August 2014 [http://borgenproject.org/problem-poverty-tokyo/] and growing at a rate of 1.3% [http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21647676-poverty-worsens-more-japanese-work-non-permanent-contracts-struggling] ) Tokyo is also a very international city, as it is the capital of the nation, and so a hub for transportation, communication, collaboration, etc. Tokyo must have a widely varied population, ranging from “white collars,” to middle and low working class, to impoverished areas. This means that dealing with public health issues face challenging demographic issues, especially those involving payment, or subsidization and insurance.
9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health? Japan's history with having to deal with radioactive dosages from World War II and the atomic bomb, to the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. This has certainly provoked the need to monitor radiation levels.
10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health? Since both the BSWPH and the TMIPH are government organizations, their funding likely comes directly from the Japanese government, or through the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health? See question 9.
12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
13.What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? As far as I can tell, which may not be very far due to language barriers, both the BSWPH and the TMIPH have produced more data and research than legitimate policy or regulation. Although there are national standards on air quality, Tokyo should have state-specific rules.
14.How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?
The Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health (BSWPH), Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is the government organization that handles public health issues and research in the city of Tokyo. In addition, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health (TMIPH) seems to contribute to policy, research, governance, etc.
The Tokyo Municipal Government (TMG) has created annual reports, available on the BSWPH English website, characterizing general Social Health and Welfare. In the 2014 report the TMG laid claims to conducting research on the connection between air pollutants and asthma. They have also established medical subsidization plans for people living in Tokyo for an extended period of time who contract air pollution-related illnesses, which includes asthma.
The TMIPH has done research revolving around radiation in the city of Tokyo.
2011- The Tokyo Metropolitan area was surveyed for radioactive doses. The doses ranged from 0.07-0.09 sieverts, depending on how far above the ground the measurement was taken. These dosages are lower than the dosage a person would receive from a chest x-ray (0.10 sieverts).
1964- R. Beard, R. Horton, and R. McCaldin publish Observations on Tokyo-Yokohama Asthma and Air Pollution in Japan in the Publich Health Reports Journal (Vol. 79, No. 5) This article describes U.S. soldiers contracting asthma-like symptoms while occupying the Tokyo-Yokohama area. These soldiers no longer had this issue once they left the area.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1915438/?page=1#
http://theasthmafiles.org/node/1582
No, there is no obvious or direct claim made by either the BSWPH or the TMIPH indicating a new or different approach than what has been seen in the past.
The BSWPH's main data collection was used for the aforementioned 2014 Annual Report. Below: Graph of Amount of Patients receiving medical subsidization for air pollution attributed illnesses.
Map of the Tokyo area, including radiation monitoring posts.
6. What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
The BSWPH and the TMIPH appear to work either in collaboration or closely, to produce research and data. These research projects include a study on relating air pollution and asthma, and observing radioactive doses around Tokyo. Neither website is fully equipped to inform the public. The BSWPH has an incredibly limited site, with a few links to an annual report and a TMIPH study. The TMIPH seems to have an accessible website, aside from the fact that there is no English version.
7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
The BSWPH works with the national Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare to develop more widespread hospital access and better care. The TMIPH has to keep up with their radioactive dosage monitoring stations across the city. That would require ready technological assistance, and appropriate communicative infrastructure to be able to relay significant data.
8. What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
Tokyo is a relatively high-income area, but has a growing poverty rate (15.7% as of August 2014 [http://borgenproject.org/problem-poverty-tokyo/] and growing at a rate of 1.3% [http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21647676-poverty-worsens-more-japanese-work-non-permanent-contracts-struggling] )
Tokyo is also a very international city, as it is the capital of the nation, and so a hub for transportation, communication, collaboration, etc. Tokyo must have a widely varied population, ranging from “white collars,” to middle and low working class, to impoverished areas. This means that dealing with public health issues face challenging demographic issues, especially those involving payment, or subsidization and insurance.
9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
Japan's history with having to deal with radioactive dosages from World War II and the atomic bomb, to the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. This has certainly provoked the need to monitor radiation levels.
10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
Since both the BSWPH and the TMIPH are government organizations, their funding likely comes directly from the Japanese government, or through the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
See question 9.
12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
13. What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
As far as I can tell, which may not be very far due to language barriers, both the BSWPH and the TMIPH have produced more data and research than legitimate policy or regulation. Although there are national standards on air quality, Tokyo should have state-specific rules.
14. How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?