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"First Time Story" known to those who know-the birthplace of urban health centers-
Hello. I'm Hanes, an active correspondent.
As many correspondents have mentioned in this blog, there are many "birthplaces" and "first in Japan" in Chuo-ku, which are distributed at tourist information centers, etc. "Has been introduced.
Famous places such as the birthplace of the bank, the first fruit specialty store in Japan, "Senbikiya Sohonten," are well known, but the birthplace I didn't even know was in Akashicho.
That is the birthplace of the urban health center, and a monument engraved with its history is embedded on the left wall at the entrance of the Chuo-ku public health center.
As mentioned in the history, in 1935, the Tokyo City Special Sanitation Zone Kyobashi Health Center, which is regarded as an "urban health center" by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the city of Tokyo, was opened in Akashicho.
So why was Kyobashi Ward chosen?
According to the "Japanese Medical History Magazine" and "St. Luke's College of Nursing Bulletin", the reasons for selection are as follows.
（1） Population, area, and other sanitary statistics are extremely standard.
（2） Located in the center of a densely populated city, it has large and small shopping streets and residential areas, has a factory area like Tsukishima, some faces ports, rich in river culverts, and the daytime population and nighttime population It has various characteristics as a representative modern city, such as a remarkable difference.
（3） Blessed with existing public and private sanitation and social business facilities
（4） There was a desire for active participation by local influential people.
In other words, at that time, Kyobashi Ward had the character of a city that could serve as a model for the development of urban health centers in the future, and had a foundation for understanding and cooperation in this project.
Also, as you may have heard of Akashicho, some staff at St. Luke International Hospital moved to the Health Center and served as the first public health director and public health nurse.
In addition, the transfer of pediatric health consultation, child health consultation, mother health consultation, tuberculosis consultation, etc., which had already been conducted by the hospital's public health nursing department, has been transferred, and the start has been successful.
In order to protect the mental and physical health of local residents, new businesses have also begun, including urban elements such as mental health consultation, occupational disease consultation, and home visits by families with infectious diseases.
By the way, in 1938, Tokorozawa Health Center was set up in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, to deal with public health problems unique to rural areas.
Like the Kyobashi Health Center, this is also supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, an American charity organization, as part of its support for the reconstruction of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Since St. Luke's International Hospital has also been developed through donations from the Foundation, the history of health centers in Japan and the history of medical and health institutions in Chuo-ku cannot be described without the Foundation.
At the time of the opening of the Kyobashi Health Center in 1935, Kyobashi Ward was suffering from parasites and tuberculosis.
How did public health centers and public health women deal with them?
I will omit the details because it will be longer, but now we coexist with COVID-19 infection is a good opportunity to learn about the dawn of urban health centers that support our lives.
References and Websites
The Japan Society of Medical History Magazine, 2015, 61-2. ※Cover picture theory
http://jsmh.umin.jp/journal/61-2/index.html (Secured on June 6, 2022)
St. Luke's International University
https://www.luke.ac.jp/index.html (viewed on June 6, 2022)
Japan International Cooperation Agency “Experience in Health and Medical Care in Japan Considering Improvement in Health and Medical Care in Developing Countries” Research Group, Institute for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2004.
https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/IFIC_and_JBICI-Studies/jica-ri/publication/archives/jica/field/200403_02.html (Secured on June 5, 2022)
“The History of Public Health Centers in Tokyo” General Meeting of Ken Kokubo Directors
http://www.phcd.jp/01/enkaku/pdf/2008_ayumi.pdf (viewed on June 5, 2022).
Noriko Hishinuma, Kazuko Naruse, Sadako Sakai, Yoko Oshikawa, Akiko Mori, Junko Tashiro "Transition of Health Activities in Urban Health Centers in Japan: Activities in Chuo-ku, Tokyo from 1935 to 1999", "St. Luke's College of Nursing, pp. 2002. 1-17．
http://hdl.handle.net/10285/434 (viewed on June 6, 2022)
Dr. Fujimoto, “Promotion of Medicine before and after World War II and St. Luke International Hospital”, “Research on the History of Biology”, 2019, 98, pp. 64-66．
https://doi.org/10.24708/seibutsugakushi.98.0_64 (viewed on June 6, 2022)