Japan government adopts comprehensive package for fighting dementia

June 18, 2019

Tokyo--The Japanese government on Tuesday adopted a comprehensive package of measures for dealing with dementia, with the aim of creating a society in which sufferers can live their daily lives comfortably and with hope.

The package, whose two key concepts are "coexistence" and "prevention," succeeds the "new orange plan," a national strategy against dementia compiled in 2015.

The new package, decided at the day's meeting of relevant cabinet ministers, will cover the period until 2025.

All government agencies "should work as one to swiftly implement" the adopted measures, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the meeting.

On the proposal to create a new driver's license system for the elderly following a recent string of serious accidents involving vehicles driven by elderly people, the government said that it will decide on a certain direction within fiscal 2019, which ends next March, mentioning a specific timeline on the matter for the first time.

The new license system, under which elderly people would be allowed to drive only vehicles equipped with advanced technologies to ensure safe driving, is being considered mainly by the National Police Agency.

Other measures related to "coexistence," or helping dementia sufferers live normally in their respective communities, include stepped-up efforts to put autonomous transportation services into practical use in order to secure means of moving for elderly people even after it becomes difficult for them to drive themselves.

The government will also foster supporters who have knowledge about dementia and volunteer to keep watch over patients, setting the target for the number of workers at retailers, financial institutions and others who play such support role at four million.

Regarding the "prevention" concept, the government aims to implement measures to delay the onset of dementia and slow the progression of its symptoms, rather than preventing the occurrence of the disease itself.

Specifically, the package called for facilitating the use of places and facilities where elderly people can interact with other members of their communities, noting that keeping them from being isolated through active participation in society is highly likely to be effective in preventing dementia.

The government will also collect scientific and research data to create manuals on activities useful for dementia prevention.

Meanwhile, the government stopped short of including in the package a numerical target for slowing the pace of increase in dementia patients.

Instead, the package showed "a reference figure," saying, "The government hopes to delay the age of the onset of dementia among people in their 70s by one year over the next decade" by promoting preventive measures. Jiji Press