Japan MHLW budget up 3.7% to $211B

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has increased by 3.7% to 22,951.5 billion yen ($211.15 billion) its fiscal year 2009 budget, compared to the initial figure asked for in 2008.

Although the increase includes a natural rise of 870.0 billion yen, such as for pension benefits, the MHLW will reduce this by 220.0 billion yen to 650.0 billion yen, mainly through the reform of the health care system and the promotion of the use of generic drugs.

With respect to allocations for pharmaceutical-related policies, 33.2 billion yen will be for promoting R&D of innovative drugs and medical devices, an increase of 5.8 billion yen compared to the pervious fiscal year. Within this, 29.0 billion yen will be allocated to drug and medical devices R&D in the areas of cancer, central nervous system diseases, orphan diseases, tailor-made therapies and regenerative medicines.