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On October 28, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the ninth meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in 2019 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, a discussion was held on social security, which is one of the thematic topics of accelerating economic revitalization and fiscal consolidation in a holistic manner.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today, we held a discussion over social security reform. As I have said up to now, it is crucial to advance economic growth, fiscal consolidation and social security reform in a holistic manner. In particular, in response to the advancing aging society, addressing this issue with a sense of urgency while taking into consideration the timeframe and improving the quality of people’s daily lives by wisely using limited resources, are important points.
 
With regard to the topics that we have given due consideration to at this Council to date, I ask Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Kato and relevant ministers to advance reviews aiming at the reform roadmap, which will be revised at the end of the year, and the achievement of the expenditure targets for the budget for the next fiscal year, based on the proposal submitted by the expert members today.
 
In particular, it is vital to materialize the Community Health Care Visions in order to build a sustainable local medical and nursing care system that accurately reflects the needs of local residents in medical and nursing care services. I would like to ask Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Kato to collaborate with the relevant ministers and exert efforts towards the steady realization of Community Health Care Visions.
 
In addition, needless to say, ensuring peace of mind in everyday life and maintaining a society that is full of vitality are major premises for the continued health and happiness of the people. In particular, I would like to ask everyone to work firmly so that disease prevention among the relatively younger generation is steadily progressed, such as by increasing the rate at which people in their 40s and 50s undergo specific health checkups.”