From 1-7 December 2019, two IHS lecturers, Dr. Deeni Idris and Dr. Faizah Naim, attended the SakuraScience Plan Program in Japan. The program was fully sponsored by Japan Science and TechnologyAgency (JST), with aims to ensure bilateral transfer of human resource network and research betweenyouths from Asian countries. It was hosted by Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Japan and thetheme for the program was ‘non-communicable diseases (NCD)’. Two participants from five ASEANcountries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, were invited to the program. As NCD is a highly relevant issue globally, a country report on NCD was presented by each participatingcountry, including Japan, during the program. The reports further emphasized how much NCD impactedeach of the countries with percentage of death due to NCD ranging from about 60% in Cambodia to 70%in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia to 80% in Japan and Brunei, as per data released by WHO in 2016.Similar risk factors were identified across the participating ASEAN countries such as smoking, obesity,physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes and preference towards more seasoned food, such as thosehigh in salt and sugar. The program was particularly beneficial for the participants as some of the initiatives taken by KagawaUniversity to contribute to the reduction of NCD in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, were highlighted. Inparticular, pediatric mass screening and genetic testing of familial hypercholesterolemia was introducedas people with this condition have lower life expectancy and developed arteriosclerosis from an earlyage. Therefore, early detection could allow for early treatment of this globally under-diagnosedcondition. Moreover, Kagawa University is a strong advocate for the use of rare sugar as functionalsweeteners as an aid to diet change, if not total replacement of normal sugar. They also have a strongrehabilitation program for stroke patients to ensure patients can eventually be independent in their day-to-day routine and still have a good quality of life. The program was a particularly beneficial learningexperience as we try to reduce the impact that NCD have on our society and the country’s economy.B E Y O N D | J A N . T O M A R . 2 0 2 0 | I S S U E 2 0 I H S L E C T U R E R S A T T E N D S A K U R A S C I E N C EP R O G R A M M E A T K A G A W A U N I V E R S I T Y ,J A P A N 7Participants of the Sakura Science Plan Program with representatives from Kagawa University, JapanBack row (from left to right): Participants from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Front row (from left to right): Assoc. Prof. Toru Takamizu, Prof. Lrong Lim, Prof. Masaaki Tokuda, Prof. Kenji Wada and Assoc.Prof. Nobuyuki Miyatake
< Page 6 | Page 8 >