ODA Spending

How much ODA does Japan allocate to global health?

Japan was the 3^rd largest OECD DAC donor to global health. In comparison to the size of its overall ODA budget, Japan was 10^th among DAC donors in terms of its prioritization of global health, having moved up significantly from the 26^th place in 2021.

How is Japanese global health ODA changing?

Almost doubling between 2019-2020, Japan’s health ODA increased by 15% in 2021, and continued to increase in 2022, amounting to $3.2 billion. This is in line with Japan's prioritization of global health and its focus on UHC and initiatives for health innovation and equitable medical treatment access.

How does Japan allocate global health ODA?

Bilateral Spending 

Japan channeled 85% of health ODA bilaterally in 2022, up from 80% in 2021. 39% of bilateral funding was channeled as earmarked funding through multilaterals.

Japan’s bilateral investments focused on health policy and COVID-19. In 2022, health policy and administrative management received 40% of Japan’s bilateral health ODA. This was followed by 38% to COVID-19 control, 8% for basic healthcare, and 4% for basic health infrastructure.

Multilateral Spending and Commitments 

Before 2020, Japan had been increasing its share of health ODA channeled through multilaterals, which accounted for 60% of health ODA in 2019. However, this figure has fallen consistently since 2020 to 15% in 2022, below the DAC average of 34%. These contributions do not include earmarked funding through multilaterals.

At the 2022 replenishment conference of the Global Fund, Japan announced a contribution of US$1.1 billion for the 2023-2025 funding period. Japan also pledged up to US$300 million to CEPI for the 2022-2026 funding period.

More recent pledges to multilateral organizations include: 

Funding and Policy Outlook 

What is the current government's outlook on global health ODA?

Japan emphasizes quality health care, infectious disease control, and UHC: Japan prioritizes global health in the Development Cooperation Charter, with an emphasis on strengthening health systems, including training health personnel, it aims to promote more robust, fair, and sustainable UHC.

In May 2022, Japan finalized a new global health policy, which focuses on strengthening preparedness, prevention, and response to public health crises, including pandemics, and on achieving more resilient, equitable, and sustainable UHC. The policy, announced in the lead-up to Japan’s 2023 G7 presidency, also aimed to increase Japan’s total health ODA.

In August 2024, Japan’s MOHW released its Global Health Vision, emphasizing the alignment of domestic and international health strategies. The strategy aims to address interconnected global and domestic health challenges, promoting international contributions while advancing health and well-being in Japan. It includes the establishment of a UHC Knowledge Hub to serve as a centralized platform for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating knowledge and best practices related to UHC. It will focus on areas such as policy innovation, capacity-building, and the integration of global health solutions into national frameworks.

Japan’s focus is shifting to pandemic preparedness: Japan’s commitment to fighting the COVID-19 crisis through various bilateral and multilateral initiatives was based on its 2020 health strategy for COVID-19 response in partner countries, Leave No One’s Health Behind. The strategy puts renewed emphasis on achieving UHC, post-pandemic economic and social recovery, and pandemic preparedness and response. At the COVID-19 Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting, Japan committed to expanding equitable access to vaccines and advocating for stronger global health architecture, UHC, and health innovation at the global level.

Japan's strategy for combating infectious disease, released in April 2023, considers how all countries can work together to contribute to the international community’s well-being: the plan focuses on global health strategy, vaccine development and production strengthening, government action plans for novel influenza, and health in Asia and Africa, among others. The plan included five major changes to Japan’s approach to addressing infectious disease:

• Contributing to the promotion of UHC and strengthening of PPR in order to develop a global health architecture;
• Contributing to the development of infectious disease experts and professionals;
• Promoting infectious disease testing, data collection and analysis, and research;
• Promoting the One Health approach; and
• Promoting AMR countermeasures.

Japan released a detailed AMR Action Plan (2023-2027) in April 2023: The plan aims to prevent the emergence of AMR as much as possible and develop strategies for preventing the spread of drug resistant disease targeting six goals:

• Public awareness and education;
• Surveillance;
• Disease control and management;
• Appropriate use of antibiotics;
• Research and development and drug discovery; and
• International cooperation.

The plan has specific metrics to measure its success in reducing various drug resistant diseases.

Japan’s announcement of its participation in the ATACH in May 2024 highlights its commitment to addressing the health impacts of climate change, both domestically and globally: This initiative, established under the COP26 Health Program and led by the WHO, focuses on fostering collaboration among countries to build resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable health systems. Through ATACH, Japan aims to share knowledge and best practices while strengthening networks to tackle challenges such as heat-related illnesses, disasters, and other health risks exacerbated by climate change.

Key Bodies