update：June 13, 2022

The video as a part of the project outputs has just been released on YouTube from "Development of educational tools for inheriting the pathways of health improvement in postwar Japan," Research Grant Program 2018 (D18-R-0303, Project Representative: Marika NOMURA) *Audio and subtitle are in English only

During the global pandemic of COVID-19 that began in the winter of 2020, public health centers, which are professional public health institutions, played an important role in Japan. This program introduces how Japanese public health centers initially responded to the COVID-19 situation through a case story. In Japan, public health centers, established under the Community Health Law, support the improvement and promotion of public health for the local residents. It is a unique professional institution in the world where medical doctors, public health nurses, and many other professionals work together to improve public health based on community needs, not provision of medical care. Understanding the role of public health centers is important to understanding community health, health policy administration, and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Japan. Japanese public health centers have been at the forefront of the response to COVID-19 pandemic. This program provides on how Japanese public health centers responded, especially in the initial stages of COVID-19 pandemic.