Topics Publication of "Glossary of Health and Medical Data
The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ) promotes the development of the utilization of health and medical data not only in the pharmaceutical industry but also in society as a whole. The government is also considering the utilization of health and medical data, but some have pointed out that the terminology used in this process is difficult for citizens to understand. Therefore, we have published a "Glossary of Health and Medical Data Terms" to provide the general public with easy-to-understand explanations of difficult-to-understand terms that can be a hurdle to understanding health and medical data. The term "health and medical data" refers to health data obtained through health checkups, nursing care, and daily activities, as well as medical data recorded at hospitals, clinics, and dispensing pharmacies.
In the "Glossary of Health and Medical Data" (hereafter referred to as "Glossary"), we have selected 15 important terms that we often see in our daily lives but whose meanings are not well known. The selection of terms and the preparation of explanatory text were supervised by COML, a certified non-profit organization, to ensure that the explanations are easy to understand for the general public. Specifically, we started with a one-word commentary and then provided information for those who want to know more in depth ( Fig. 1 ).
Fig. 1 Glossary of healthcare data: An example of a glossary page
In addition, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ) has published an e-Book, "Health and Medical Data and Our Lives," which provides basic information on what health and medical data is and what it is useful for. We hope that this glossary and e-Book will encourage people to take an interest in the utilization of health and medical data. We hope that many people will take a look at it, and we would appreciate it if you would spread the word about the following URL address and two-dimensional barcode.
Glossary of health medical data
https://www.jpma.or.jp/information/evaluation/results/allotment/kenkou_iryou_data/index.html
Health Medical Data and Our Lives
https://www.jpma.or.jp/information/evaluation/results/allotment/TF_202304_DBCP.html
( Kanae Togo, Medical Information DB Utilization Promotion TF, Pharmaceutical Evaluation Committee)