1. Symposium Background
In June 2024, the Japan Medical Association (JMA) held a symposium in Tokyo titled “Disaster Medicine for the Next Generation.” The JMA was founded by Baron Shibasaburo Kitasato, a Japanese physician, Japan’s father of modern medicine, and the individual whose likeness appears on the 1,000-yen banknotes newly circulated in July 2024. Through achievements such as successfully obtaining the first pure culture of the tetanus bacillus, Dr. Kitasato contributed significantly to the prevention of infectious diseases and the development of bacteriology in Japan and elsewhere. Believing that “the physician’s mission is to prevent illnesses before they occur,” he tirelessly stressed the importance of preventive medicine.
In line with Dr. Kitasato’s beliefs, the necessity for disaster prediction and preparation is emphasized as the key to disaster medicine whenever mass casualties occur due to natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Indeed, prediction and preparation are critical due to increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters resulting from climate change and concerns over massive earthquakes striking directly beneath Tokyo, in the Nankai Trough, and elsewhere. Seismologists advise that there is a 70–80% chance of a major earthquake occurring in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years, with the estimated death toll surpassing 320,000. This constant risk of catastrophe renders disaster medicine initiatives an urgent issue for Japan.
The nation’s physicians, historically rescuers amidst mass casualties, funneled their heartfelt desire “to save as many lives as possible” into the planning of this symposium.
JMA President Dr. Kichiro Matsumoto issued a strong call to arms during his symposium address. “Disaster medicine is directly linked to saving lives. Medical practitioners must therefore unite with professionals from other fields in an all-Japan approach.”
The symposium represented a groundbreaking initiative for the JMA, uniting the expertise of meteorologists, civil engineers, and innovators from start-up ventures.
