A response system for early detection and reporting of public health risks in Japan

日本的各种公共卫生问题，如与西方国家相比，石棉危害的预防工作滞后，最近的食品风险管理危机等，表明建立早期发现和报告公共卫生风险的反应系统至关重要。作为一项试验，日本公共卫生学会设立了公共卫生监测和报告委员会。委员会的活动包括收集健康风险信息和分析数据，并向学术机构或政府机构提出必要的预防措施建议。该委员会目前正在总结其活动，并审查公共卫生风险应对系统的类型和建立常设组织的程序。还叙述了调查结果和未解决的问题。

Various public health issues in Japan such as the delay in the prevention of asbestos hazards compared with the Western countries, recent crisis in food risk management etc, indicate that the establishment of a response system for early detection and reporting of public health risks is essential. As a trial, the Japanese Society of Public Health established the Committee for Monitoring and Reporting of Public Health. The activities of the committee include gathering of health risk information and analysis of the data, and making recommendations of necessary preventive measures to academic or government bodies. The committee is currently summarizing its activities, and reviewing the type of the public health risk response system and the procedure for establishing a permanent organization. The findings and the unresolved issues have also been described.