Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Nutraceuticals
September 15, 2016

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Enters into Health Promotion Partnership with Yamanashi Prefecture

  • Signed on September 14, 2016, the partnership aims to support the goal of creating a social environment that is conducive to active and healthy lifestyles as set forth in the Health Yamanashi 21 (second term) plan established by Yamanashi Prefecture.
  • Otsuka will utilize its expertise in heat stroke countermeasures, prevention of lifestyle-related illnesses, nutritional education, disaster mitigation and other areas, cooperating with Yamanashi Prefecture to contribute to extended healthy life expectancy and promote the health and wellbeing of prefectural residents.

Signing Ceremony at the Yamanashi Prefectural Government

Center: Hitoshi Goto, governer, Yamanashi Prefecture
Left: Shozo Yamazaki, vice president, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
Right: Katsumi Watakabe, branch manager, Tokyo Branch Office

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo Japan; President: Tatsuo Higuchi) has entered into a Health Promotion Partnership with Yamanashi Prefecture to support the goal of achieving healthy lifestyles for prefectural residents. The agreement was signed on September 14 at the Yamanashi Prefecture Government Offices.

In statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2013, Yamanashi Prefecture ranked number one nationwide*1 in healthy life expectancy*2 for both men and women. On the other hand, sodium intake is among the highest in the nation and prevention of lifestyle-related illnesses has been identified as a serious issue.

Based on these considerations, Yamanashi Prefecture has established the Health Yamanashi 21 (second term)*3 health promotion plan with the goal of creating a social environment that is conducive to active and healthy lifestyles. The prefectural government is working together with local governments and related organizations to develop initiatives to promote the health and wellbeing of Yamanashi Prefecture residents, with a focus on prevention of the occurrence and aggravation of lifestyle-related illnesses.
A landlocked region surrounded by mountains, Yamanashi Prefecture often posts record high temperatures during the summer months, making heat stroke countermeasures another important focus of health initiatives*4.

As befitting a health care company, Otsuka Pharmaceutical is involved in various activities with local governments and other entities to promote health and wellbeing. To date, Otsuka has cooperated with Yamanashi Prefecture in a wide range of health maintenance and promotion and educational activities.

Under the terms of the Health Promotion Partnership, Otsuka will maximize expertise in areas such as heat stroke countermeasures, prevention of lifestyle-related illnesses, nutritional education and disaster mitigation to further promote the health and wellbeing and extend the healthy life expectancy of Yamanashi Prefecture residents.
Aiming to reinforce this cooperative alliance, Otsuka will provide health-related information and products based on scientific evidence to contribute to achieving healthy lifestyles for prefectural residents.

Under the terms of the partnership, Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Yamanashi Prefecture will cooperate to implement activities in the areas outlined below.

  1. 1Promotion of Health Yamanashi 21 initiatives to extend healthy life expectancy
  2. 2Promotion of heat stroke countermeasures
  3. 3Promotion of health and wellbeing through nutrition
  4. 4Disaster mitigation initiatives
  5. 5Other activities related to enhancing the health of prefectural residents.

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. 1Yamanashi Prefecture website (in Japanese):https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/shinchaku/kenko-zsn/2701/kenkoujyumyo.html
  2. 2Healthy life expectancy (HALE): Length of life that an individual lives without limitation in daily activities due to health problems (Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
  3. 3Health Yamanashi 21 (in Japanese):https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/kenko-zsn/documents/gaiyou.pdf
  4. 4Japan Meteorological Agency website (in Japanese):http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/rankall.php

REFERENCE

Including the comprehensive partnership with Yamanashi Prefecture, Otsuka has concluded cooperative agreements with 28 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, Fukushima Prefecture, Akita Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture).