Relationship with SDGs

“Transforming our world: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) laid out in this agenda, countries and regions throughout the world will strive to achieve 17 goals and 169 targets related to poverty, inequality, education, and the environment, by the year 2030.

Since it was established, the Nihon Chouzai Group has provided safe, high-quality healthcare services through strong teamwork and clear sharing of roles between physicians and pharmacists in keeping with their respective areas of specialization, as part of efforts to achieve a separation of drug prescribing and dispensing. We have long considered it our social responsibility to control increases in healthcare costs, including efforts to reduce economic impact on patients. At the same time, the Group has expanded its business operations to include the manufacturing and sales of pharmaceuticals, the staffing and placement of medical professionals, and providing information and consultations, growing as a company that contributes to healthcare on various levels, with a particular focus on the Dispensing Pharmacy Business. In all of our business activities, we take human rights and environmental protection into account throughout the entire supply chain.

The Nihon Chouzai Group’s business activities are broadly related to all 17 SDGs, but demonstrate the greatest affinity with the following four goals in particular. Through our business activities, we will strive to contribute to the development of society, and to appropriately disclose and continuously evaluate information, in order to further contribute to achieving these goals.

Good health and well-being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

The Nihon Chouzai Group contributes to achieving SDG 3, “Good health and well-being,” by promoting the Group’s core businesses—the Dispensing Pharmacy Business, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Sales Business, the Medical Professional Staffing and Placement Business, and the Information Provision and Consulting Business—and by achieving continuous growth.

We promote activities aimed at increasing healthcare quality and accessibility; for example, contributing to controlling increases in healthcare costs by strengthening and expanding pharmacy functions (e.g., expanding bases that support health, even at the pre-symptomatic and prevention levels, and accommodating advanced healthcare and regional healthcare), operating pharmacies where customers across Japan can enjoy high-quality healthcare services as part of a regional healthcare and social welfare infrastructure, and by promoting the use of generic pharmaceuticals and utilizing healthcare big data.

In addition, we conduct R&D targeting safe, high-quality generic pharmaceuticals in keeping with the needs of the front lines of healthcare, manufacture those pharmaceuticals based on management structures in compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP), and maintain structures to ensure stable supply. Furthermore, through the staffing and placement of medical professionals, we contribute to resolving imbalances in regional healthcare manpower and building structures that enable the smooth provision of healthcare on the regional level.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact throughout the world. SDG Target 3.3 is described as “ending epidemics and combatting communicable diseases.” Responding to the crisis brought about by the pandemic is part of the Nihon Chouzai Group’s mission. As such, our in-house pharmacists assist in vaccinations at public vaccination venues, and we introduce doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

As part of efforts to accomplish Target 3.8, “Achieving universal health coverage,” we will adopt an approach to health and social welfare for all people, in every aspect of the Nihon Chouzai Group’s business.

[Related information] *Japanese only

●Operating Dispensing Pharmacies that provide quality healthcare services
●Health Check Stations that support healthy lifestyles
●Manufacturing and sales of generic pharmaceuticals
●Staffing and placement of medical professionals
●Use of healthcare big data

Quality education

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

In Japan, in 2025, many people in the “baby boomer” generation will be aged 75 or older, leading to the formation of a super-aging society. This is expected to place a huge burden on the healthcare system, bringing about major changes in the environment surrounding pharmacies, including an increase in family (regular-use) pharmacists and pharmacies, as well as a demand for at-home medical care and online guidance in drug administration.

It has become necessary not only to collaborate with regional medical institutions, but also to accommodate advanced healthcare through collaborations with specialized medical institutions, and to ensure safe, high-quality healthcare services for patients. In this backdrop, pharmacists, who are central to the Nihon Chouzai Group’s business, are expected to take on increasingly advanced and diverse roles.

As noted in SDG targets 4.3 (“quality technical, vocational and tertiary education”) and 4.4 (“technical and vocational skills”), highly skilled individuals are essential to the provision of high-quality healthcare services. For this reason, we focus our efforts on maintaining a high-quality educational environment; for example, by providing a unique, 15-rank training curriculum, supporting employees in acquiring outside certifications, and providing man-to-man guidance for newly graduated pharmacists. We also strive to increase the level of education throughout the industry as a whole, for example by presenting research and surveys that contribute to the development of healthcare, and offering Nihon Chouzai’s original training curriculums for job applicants through our Medical Professional Staffing and Placement Business.

Just as in the case of employees other than pharmacists, we consider manpower to be an important management resource, and continue to pursue the continuous growth of the company by maintaining evaluation and training systems that promote the growth of those employees.

[Related information] *Japanese only

●High-quality educational environment for the healthcare field

●“Regional cooperation pharmacies” that work closely with healthcare institutions in the region

●“Specialized medical institution cooperation pharmacies” that offer specialized pharmaceutical management

●Home medical care to support patients recovering at home

Decent work and economic growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

There have been calls to promote workstyle reforms in Japan as well, and SDG 8, “Decent work and economic growth,” is becoming increasingly important. Target 8.5 refers to “full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men,” while Target 8.8 refers to “Labour rights and safe/secure working environments for all workers.”

When we think about increasing corporate value in the medium to long term, we must necessarily consider the concept of "human capital." We will work to secure manpower who can support the company’s growth, and build an environment where all employees can be active and demonstrate their own unique value, regardless of age or disability. Promoting active participation by women in the workplace is a key item for the Nihon Chouzai Group, where women account for more than 70% of employees, so we are putting in place various systems and initiatives to support women in finding a balance between work and home life, for example through a system of shortened work hours for parents with small children. We also continue our efforts in the staffing and placement of medical professionals in appropriate positions according to their skills, and in the creation of employment opportunities.

The Nihon Chouzai Group conducts employee surveys and initiatives aimed at monitoring and improving the status of engagement. We will continue to promote greater employee safety and health and maintain workplace environments where employees can enjoy job satisfaction. In addition to workstyle reforms, we will do this by promoting health management based on specific KPIs, reducing overtime and encouraging the use of paid leave, utilizing teleworking to prevent infections and enable diverse work styles, and enhancing employee welfare systems.

We will also support healthy workstyles by promoting the nationwide rollout of the industrial physician business, and by supporting labor hygiene management with a particular focus on health management, including mental health.

[Related information]

●The Nihon Chouzai Group’s HR management

●Health management declaration and related activities *Japanese only

Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation

Since its establishment, the Nihon Chouzai Group has actively adopted information and communication technologies (ICT). As an industry leader, we have been developing original pharmaceutical dispensing systems since the beginning of the 2000s, and have promoted the digitalization of medication notebooks and the automation of pharmaceutical dispensing operations. The Nihon Chouzai Group’s strength is in its ability to create new healthcare services and to evolve existing services by combining high-quality manpower with digital transformations (DX) in healthcare.

SDG Target 9.1 refers to the importance of “sustainable and resilient infrastructure.” The pharmaceutical dispensing systems developed by the Nihon Chouzai Group have been constructed as original infrastructures that accommodate online environments and incorporate strict security structures. Okusuri Techo Plus, an electronic medication notebook system that has been in operation since 2014, supports health management and the effective use of time for patients. In September 2020, we began providing the Nihon Chouzai Online Pharmacy Service, through which users can enjoy seamless services from drug administration guidance to home deliveries. By promoting a shift to online healthcare processes, it has become possible to provide patients with “smart healthcare.”

The Nihon Chouzai Group will continue to promote digital transformations in healthcare in the future as well. By applying digital technologies, we will strive to create new customer experiences and new business. For example, we will use the FINDAT pharmaceutical information platform to improve the level and efficiency of appropriate pharmaceutical usage, and introduce digital tools to promote online healthcare and operational innovations at multiple pharmacies.

We are confident that this will contribute to achieving Target 8.2 in SDG 8: “Higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation.”

[Related information]

●The Nihon Chouzai Group’s DX strategy

●Providing healthcare services using ICT *Japanese only

●The Nihon Chouzai Group’s original electronic medication notebook *Japanese only