In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in place of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), constituted a historical landmark. Previously, developed nations provided developing nations with substantial aid for the implementation of the MDGs that entailed measurable and limited targets. Among these targets, health was prioritized, accounting for 28.6% of the total targets. The new SDGs, by contrast, entail 17 goals and 169 targets that apply not just to developing nations, but also to developed nations. The proportion of health targets (7.7%) in the SDGs, being a quarter of that in the MDGs, appears to indicate lower prioritization of health. However, health remains central for the achievement of the SDGs, given a total of 23 health-related targets associated with other goals such as no poverty, nutrition, and sanitation. Additionally, a “Health in all Policies” approach can be likely adopted for the SDGs to facilitate the implementation of effective interventions for improving social, environmental, and economical determinants of health. Decision makers may find it difficult to comprehend the objectives of the SDGs because of their ‘universality’ and obscure focus in relation to sustainable development targets. This paper presents concepts and approaches aimed at fostering ‘convergence’ to overcome these deficiencies. Health-related examples of convergence include ‘universal health coverage (UHC)’ and ‘gland convergence (GC)’. A myriad of stakeholders, with contrasting opinions and ideas, participated in the SDG formulation process. This has resulted in the inclusion of diverse contemporary health issues that are socially significant such as non-communicable diseases, mental health, substance abuse, and road traffic accidents. Competing specialists’ claims that prioritize particular diseases, saying “my disease is more important than your disease”, have probably contributed to the diversity of SDG targets. UHC and GC will play crucial roles in the future realization of the SDGs.

To investigate the difficulties of taking Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicines, questionnaires were filled out by patients under 19 years old or their families.Forty-six questionnaires were valid for analysis. The mean age of the patients was 9.7 &qlusmn; 5.3 years old (2 to 19 years old) and the percentage of male patients was high (65%). They took extract granules (n = 40) or decoction (n = 6) and most of the patients (n = 38, 83%) took medicines twice a day. Though 69% of patients under 5 years old needed direct assistance from their family to take medicines, none of over 6 years of age needed any help except to dissolve medicines in hot water, while notably 77% of the patients over 13 years old took their medicines un-aided. It was found that patients' families gave them the concrete explanations on the necessity of their medicines regardless of patients' age, so it is important for pharmacist to guide not only families but also patients themselves. Furthermore, pharmacists should understand the taste and the constituent crude drugs of Kampo medicines to improve patients' adherence in taking medicines.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify the factors related to the content of consultation in the cancer nursing outpatient department of Gunma University Hospital. Method: A retrospective survey was conducted with 1084 cases, excluding the unknown cases, from 1308 consultations in FY2019. Survey items included age, gender, consulter, number of uses, treatment status, consultation content, etc. We conducted χ2 tests, and binomial logistic regression analysis between the content of the consultation and the attributes of the user. Results: The treatment-related content was associated with the following factors: 70s or older, family/relatives only, presence of recurrence/metastasis, first use, pre-treatment, urinary organs, uterine/ovary, and unknown primary. The body-related content was associated with the following factors: under treatment, post-treatment, no recurrence/metastasis, and digestive organs. The mental health-related content was associated with 30s or younger, 40s–60s, patient only, and second time or more. The social aspects-related content was associated with the following factors: patient only, family/relatives only, no recurrence/metastasis, and breast. Conclusion: The results reveal that associated factors differ by consultation content. These findings can be used to prepare for consultation based on the relevant associated factors.