• Otsuka provides ongoing support for the international, non-governmental organization People's Hope Japan (PHJ) to facilitate contributions to human health and welfare outside Japan.
• The Sub Rural Health Center was constructed in a rural village in Myanmar using funds from Otsuka and PHJ, conveyed through PHJ.
• The facility aims to provide stable maternal and child health services including promotion of midwife-assisted childbirth and health education for local residents.

Tokyo, Japan - June 27 2016 - Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announces that it has funded construction of the Sub Rural Health Center in Myanmar in collaboration with People's Hope Japan (PHJ). The Center, located in the rural village of Allel Kyun to the north of the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, was inaugurated in a ceremony on June 24.

In Myanmar, births typically occur at home with a midwife in attendance but development of health services for infants and expectant and nursing mothers is a significant challenge there*. In order to create satisfactory services for them, improved sanitary conditions, simultaneous care provision to multiple patients, ongoing care and health and medical education are needed.
Allel Kyum was chosen as the site for the new Center at the request of the Myanmar Ministry of Health due to the lack of nearby hospital facilities for childbirth. In addition to attending childbirths, a midwife residing at the Center is to provide basic medical care and ongoing health education for expectant and nursing mothers and other village residents. These services aim to promote understanding of childbirth and childcare as well as provide stable maternal and child health care services for mothers and children in the village and surrounding area.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical is dedicated to the health and well-being of people the world over and therefore supports the activities of PHJ, an international, non-governmental organization that provides education on health and medical care, with a focus on maternal and child healthcare, throughout Asia, Otsuka has provided support for various PHJ projects in the past, including donations of products to assist victims of flooding in Cambodia and of auto rickshaws (tuk-tuk) to transport pregnant women in emergencies.

In keeping with its corporate philosophy, "Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide," Otsuka is dedicated to contributing to the health and well-being of people around the world through the activities that only Otsuka can do.

• According to the WHO publication World Health Statistics 2015, infant and maternal mortality rates in Myanmar are higher than in neighboring countries.
  2013 infant mortality rates (per 1,000 births): Japan 2; Thailand 11; Vietnam 19; Cambodia 33; Myanmar 40
  2013 maternal mortality rates (per 100,000 deliveries): Japan 6; Thailand 26; Vietnam 49; Cambodia 170; Myanmar 200

About Sub Rural Health Center

Major Otsuka Pharmaceutical CSR Activities