June 12, 1998

President's visit sets stage for better health care in Japan

President Rod Fraser (right) offers a gift to Tatsuo Maru- yama, Vice-Governor of Hok- kaido, Japan.

When President Rod Fraser met last month with the vice-governor of Hokkaido, Japan, Tatsuo Maruyama, they agreed on a collaboration that will mean a sick child in a small Japanese village can get expert medical care without having to leave her home village.

The key to this care, for the child and thousands of other rural Japanese residents, will be Telehealth. The concept of Telehealth is familiar to the U of A community where three Telehealth sites are set up to provide expert medical video consultation with rural doctors and patients. X-rays, CAT scans, ultra sound images and other diagnostic tests are transmitted by supporting computers while medical specialists can discuss, in real time, results and treatment with both the patient and his or her rural physician.

As a result of the president's recent trip to China and Japan, one of the U of A's partner institutions, Sapporo Medical University in Hokkaido, Japan will soon be similarly equipped.

Professor Mazako Miyazaki, director of the U of A TeleHealth Centre, went to Japan with Fraser and identified Sapporo as the ideal place to serve as a base for the U of A's TeleHealth network's global links. "When you start to go around the globe, as you can imagine, the communication lines are not always that clean," she says.

Sapporo Medical University saw clear benefits to the collaboration. "They were very excited by the potential of the program we have set up here," says Fraser. "Japan has many of the same problems we have when it comes to providing specialized medical care to rural communities."

"But," says Miyazaki, "in order to forge ahead with Telehealth, Sapporo needed provincial funding." To that end, Fraser and Miyazaki, along with a delegation from Sapporo, met with the vice-governor, who pledged his support. Fraser later met with the federal leader of the upper house in Tokyo who promised federal support as well.

"Sapporo University is intent on becoming a very high-calibre research institution," says Fraser. "We have the edge in being innovators in this particular field, but we'll gain as much knowledge as we share in this collaboration."

One of the more immediate gains is the chance to test some of the finest Japanese technology -- not yet on the market. "President Fraser's presence in Japan was critical," says Miyazaki. "In dealing with Japanese industries it's very important to have the backing of the president of the university. It's a part of their culture."

With the help of Fraser then, they were able to enter into agreements with Sony, the Nippon Telecommunications Corporation and the Hokkaido branch of Mitsubishi Electronics to test equipment before it hits the market. Telehealth will being testing the equipment this summer.

CHINA CONNECTION

Fraser's Asian visit included China. While there, Fraser . . .

• made a presentation to the Canada-China University President's Conference in Nanjing, China on the U of A's management of science and technology, focusing on research excellence. Twenty-six Chinese university presidents and 24 from Canada attended the conference, sponsored by CIDA
• attended 100th Anniversary celebrations for Beida, Peking University, China's pre-eminent post-secondary institution and a U of A partner in research.

Folio front page

Office of Public Affairs

University of Alberta