INTRODUCTION OF THE “HEALTH HANDBOOK”, GREETINGS AND FAREWELL

By Koichi Nakamoto, Medical officer
Embassy of Japan in Canada
I’d like to thank JSS for providing valuable space for me in this issue
to introduce “Health Handbook,” translated by the medical team at the Embassy. I was assigned to the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa, transferring from Tanzania, at the end of January 2012. To investigate the medical situation in Canada, I have visited medical institutions and clinics across the country.
Some Japanese people have had difficulties due to poor access to medical institutions in Canada compared to Japan. But Canadian people also have difficulties. Against this backdrop, the Medical Association of Calgary has created a handbook to help the public use medical institutions effectively. This is the ” Healthwise Handbook by Calgary West Central Primary Care Network”, from which our handbook has been translated.
And so as not to spend unnecessary waiting time at the reception at medical institutions, possible scenarios on ” when to call the emergency 911″, “When to visit doctors,” and “how to treat at home “ are described meticulously in the handbook according to the symptoms and specific diseases.
The handbook is like a Canadian version of the ” Family Medical Dictionary, ” which has been a cherished and useful book in Japanese homes for a long time. We were also impressed that it offers the equivalent of “Grandma’s Wisdom,” which is on the verge of being lost these days in Japan. The handbook is distributed free of charge to the residents of Calgary. We felt it would be useful to Japanese people living in Canada, so we decided to translate it into Japanese.
For those who may find it difficult to understand the descriptions of symptoms and the names of diseases in English, we’ve provided a Japanese index at the end of the book. Yurika Murakami, secretary of the Medical Team at the Embassy, and I worked on the translations very quickly. We did not ask professional people to polish the translation, so there may be some poorly translated parts. However, we are confident that it will be useful to Japanese people living in Canada. Please make use of it by downloading and printing a copy and by keeping it handy by the telephone. You can also download it into terminals such as iPad.
On a personal note on May 15, 2014, I will be returning to Japan to work at the clinic in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after completing my assignments at the Japanese Embassy in Canada. At JSS, I was responsible for medical lectures, and the Caravan-Mate training on dementia. I will be delighted if the “Health Handbook” is useful for you. My successor is Tetsu Shiraishi, a medical officer who’s being transferred from Yemen. We’d appreciate it if you would extend your support to him just as you’ve done to me. Thank you.
Health Handbook HP:
http://www.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/JapaneseSite/Medical/index.htm