Japam Healthcare System

Japan ranks in the top ten of healthcare systems and 3rd in life expectancy worldwide ("Japan: Country profiles," 2013). Japan’s life expectancy is number one in the world with a life span for women at 86.44 years and men 79.59 years (Hayes, 2012). High life expectancy in Japan is a result of many things to include reductions in smoking, low rates of lungs disease, healthy eating habits, and diet. Japanese diets consist of fish, rice, and seaweed, and healthy eating is stressed from childhood. In 2000, the American Heart Association recommended that people eat salmon or tuna twice a week, marking it the first time they recommended eating specific foods rather than general guidelines (Hayes, 2012). Eating fish has been linked with low cholesterol levels and low rates of heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, Japan has 30 deaths per 100,000 people due to heart disease ("Japan: Country profiles," 2013).
Although Japanese individuals live longer than people in other industrialized countries, they are not without health problems.
Over the past 60 years tuberculosis, cerebrovascular (CVA/Stroke) disease, and cancer were the leading causes of death with a high rate of mortality. With advances in medical technology, enhancements of medical facilitate, and improvements in the environment these numbers have decreased drastically. In 1950 Japan had a tuberculosis mortality rate of 146.2 deaths per 100,000 and now has less than 2 per 100,000. In the 1970’s strokes were the leading causes of death. Since the 1980’s cancer has been the leading cause of death, particularly with gastric cancer. Survey’s conducted in 2010 show that cancer was 29.5 percent of mortalities, followed by heart disease at 15.8 percent, and strokes at 10.3 (Hayes, 2012). Japan was once regarded as the world leader in cancer screening because of mass screenings being done in various ways including mobile x-ray. This initiative was funded and backed by the national government, but...