Investigations of the public medical expenses subsidy for Meniere disease in Kagawa Prefecture which is sustainable for more than 30 years

• Published in: Equilibrium Research Vol. 79; no. 4; pp. 230 - 235
• Main Authors: Miyashita, Takenori, Takahashi, Satoshi, Mori, Nozomu, Hoshikawa, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Kyoto Japan Society for Equilibrium Research 31-08-2020; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Epidemiology; intractable disease; Kagawa Prefecture; Medical treatment; Meniere disease; Meniere's disease; Patients; public medical expenses subsidy; Subsidies; Japan
• ISSN: 0385-5716; 1882-577X
• DOI: 10.3757/jser.79.230

Meniere disease was included in the national registry of Designated Intractable Diseases by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan) in 1974. Therefore, it would be desirable for medical expenses incurred towards treatment of Meniere disease to be subsidized by public funds. However, the Act on Medical Care for Patients with Intractable Diseases (Intractable Diseases Law) is not yet applicable to Meniere diseases, and there is, at present, no public medical expenses subsidy at the national level. Kagawa Prefecture designated Meniere disease as a specific disease treatment research project (designated by the prefecture) in June 1980, and has been providing public medical assistance to patients with Meniere disease. After the Intractable Disease Law was enacted, Meniere disease was specified as a designated intractable disease in Kagawa prefecture, and medical expenses subsidy has been continued for Meniere disease, as well as other designated intractable diseases included in the national registry by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan). Since 2010, the number of recipients of subsidy for the treatment of Meniere disease has ranged from 15.0 to 19.6 per 100,000 (male 1: female 2.7), comparable to the corresponding figure in previous epidemiological reports.　The public medical expenses subsidy project for Meniere disease in Kagawa Prefecture has been carried out smoothly for over 30 years, and it was confirmed that a sustainable public medical expenses subsidy project for Meniere disease could be continued. Meniere disease is included in the national registry of designated intractable diseases and is expected to be eligible for public medical expenses at the national level.