Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Nutraceuticals
May 30, 2016

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Enters into Health Promotion Partnership Agreement with Akita Prefecture

  • The agreement, signed on May 27, 2016, aims to support the goals of "Healthy Longevity Akita," promoting spiritually rewarding living conditions conducive to long and productive lifetimes.
  • Otsuka Pharmaceutical will utilize its expertise in prevention of lifestyle-related illnesses, nutritional education, heat stroke countermeasures, and other areas to address poor eating habits, risk of lifestyle-related illnesses and other issues affecting prefectural residents, aiming to contribute to revitalization of local communities, promotion of health and wellbeing, and improvement of services for residents of Akita Prefecture.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan; President: Tatsuo Higuchi) has entered into an agreement with Akita Prefecture, finalized on May 27, aiming to contribute to revitalization of local communities, promotion of health and wellbeing, and improvement of services for prefectural residents.

Signing Ceremony at the Akita Prefectural Government

Center: Norihisa Satake, governer, Akita Prefecture
Left: Shozo Yamazaki, operating officer, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
Right: Yoshikatsu Yoshikawa,branch manager, Sendai Branch Office

As a comprehensive healthcare company, Otsuka Pharmaceutical is involved in various activities with local governments and other entities to promote the health and wellbeing of the public at large. In June 2015, Otsuka entered into a sports promotion agreement with Akita City as part of the city's program for realization of a "lifelong sports society" and is already involved in activities aimed at enhancing health of local residents through sports.

In recognition of these and other activities, Otsuka has now entered into a comprehensive health promotion agreement with Akita Prefecture, aiming to support goals of increased healthy longevity under the Term 2 Akita Health Plan*1.

On a nationwide basis, the ratio of Akita Prefecture residents at risk from lifestyle-related illnesses is significantly high*2, and a recent awareness survey regarding eating habits indicates that more than half of men and women are aware of nutrition problems such as poorly balanced diet and excess salt intake*3. Akita Prefecture is in the process of concluding partnerships with private enterprises and other entities to revitalize local communities and improve the quality of services in the interest of promoting and enhancing the health of prefectural residents.

Under the new agreement, Otsuka Pharmaceutical will maximize expertise in areas such as prevention of lifestyle-related illnesses, nutritional education, and heat stroke countermeasures, providing health information and products based on scientific evidence to contribute to the health and wellbeing of Akita Prefecture residents.

Under the terms of the agreement, Otsuka Pharmaceutical will focus on activities outlined below.

  1. 1Activities related to improved lifestyle habits
  2. 2Activities related to promotion of health through nutrition
  3. 3Heat stroke countermeasures
  4. 4Other activities related to improving services for prefectural residents and revitalizing local communities.

Based on our corporate philosophy of 'Otsuka - people creating new products for better health worldwide', Otsuka Pharmaceutical is dedicated to the development of innovative products that contribute to the health of people around the world.

  1. 1http://www.pref.akita.lg.jp/www/contents/1209185565899/index.html
  2. 2Source: Japan Health Insurance Association, Akita Branch; 2013 Lifestyle-related Illness Prevention Physical Examination Data
  3. 3Prefectural Residents' Health & Nutrition Survey:http://www.pref.akita.lg.jp/www/contents/1359699579087/index.html

REFERENCE

Including the comprehensive partnership with Akita, Otsuka has concluded cooperative agreements with 19 prefectural and metropolitan governments throughout Japan (Kanagawa Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Fukuoka Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture, Aomori Prefecture, Okayama Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Metropolis of Tokyo, Mie Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture).