The COVID-19 pandemic is exerting enormous pressure on health systems around the world. Even high-income countries previously considered to have resilient health systems have not always been able to respond adequately. In this webinar, the panellists will analyse the current status and challenges of the health care systems in the UK and Japan as they respond to the worst pandemic for a century. They will also compare the responses of these healthcare systems, both to coronavirus and to other diseases, with those of other European OECD members.

About the contributors

Haruka Sakamoto, MD MPH PhD, is a primary-care physician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Keio University. She earned her MD from Sapporo Medical University and worked as a physician at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo for several years. She then received a scholarship from the World Bank and earned her MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. From 2011 to 2013 and in 2016, she worked in the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan, where she was deeply involved in health policy activities. As part of that work, she participated in WHO meetings, G7 meetings, and bilateral cooperation activities through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Sakamoto is also currently working as a project researcher at the Department of Global Health Policy in the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Medicine, and as a consultant to the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Regional Office and the Gates Foundation’s Tokyo Office. Her current research focuses on strengthening health systems, healthcare financing, and the politics of global health.

Sarah Reed, MSc, joined the Nuffield Trust in February 2020 as a Senior Fellow in Policy and Research. Prior to joining the Trust, she worked as an Improvement Fellow at the Health Foundation where she led a research portfolio focused on the role of the NHS in preventative care, and on the social determinants of health. Sarah’s current research focuses on international comparative analyses of health and social care systems, integrated care, health inequalities, clinical commissioning, and health system reform. Previously, Sarah worked as Network and Policy Manager at NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC), a hosted network of the NHS Confederation. There she led policy analysis and oversaw the strategic development and delivery of NHSCC member networks in the areas of finance, governance and core cities. She also worked as Programme Director at the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a research organisation in Massachusetts that evaluates the clinical and economic value of prescription drugs, medical tests, and other health care and health care delivery innovations. Sarah has an MSc in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics.