281644
Japan-Philippines economic partnership agreement (JPEPA)—analysis of a failed trade and nurse migration policy
Monday, November 4, 2013
: 11:05 AM - 11:20 AM
Timothy Mackey, MAS
,
School of Public Health (SDSU), Institute of Health Law Studies (Cal Western School of Law), San Diego State University-University of California, San Diego and Institute of Health Law Studies, Cal Western School of Law, San Diego, CA
Nozomi Yagi
,
Joint Masters Degree in Health Law-University of California, San Diego-California Western School of Law, University of California, San Diego-California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA
Bryan Liang, MD, JD, PhD
,
School of Medicine (UCSD), Institute of Health Law Studies (Cal Western School of Law), University of California, San Diego, California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA
Lorna Gerlt
,
Joint Masters Degree in Health Law, University of California, San Diego - California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA
In 2008, the bilateral Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement took effect. Contained within this bilateral regional free trade agreement are unique provisions allowing migration and exchange of Filipino nurses and healthcare workers to work abroad in Japan. Japan's increasing need for healthcare workers due to its aging demographics and healthcare workforce shortage coupled with the Philippines need for economic development could have led to shared benefits under Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. However, four years following program implementation, results have been disappointing, e.g., with only 7% of candidates passing the programs requirements since 2009. These dismal results represent a policy failure within the current Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement framework, and point to the need for governance reform to ensure equitable healthcare worker migration and to prevent brain waste. Amending the current Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement structure by adopting lessons from the US model for international nursing licensure requirements, removing unnecessary testing barriers, and striving towards shared goals of health equity can result in meaningful reform.
Learning Areas:
Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Other professions or practice related to public health
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related nursing
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Identify key elements impacting health worker migration of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement bilateral trade agreement
Evaluate effectiveness of JPEPA in facilitating fair and equitable health worker migration of Filipino nurses to Japan which faces an aging demographic and health workforce critical shortage
Identify weaknesses of JPEPA and formulate a policy proposal advocating for institutional and governance reform, revision of required nursing licensure requirements, and necessary revision of the JPEPA
Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Health Care Politics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I hold a masters degree in health law and am a current PhD Candidate in global health. I am a co-author on several peer-review manuscripts on global health policy and health worker migration and have also given oral presentations at several international and domestic public health conferences including APHA.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
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