Society > Together with the Local Community Contributions to Medical Care and Welfare

As a life sciences company, in addition to our business activities, the Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Group is engaged in a wide range of medical and welfare-related initiatives that seek to achieve a vigorous life for patients, their families, and others.

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Medical Educational Subsidy

The Company subsidizes medical training that is independently planned and operated by medical societies and associations, to help improve the quality of medical care offered in Japan through better literacy in patients and healthcare professionals, and in 2021 the Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Medical Educational Subsidy was established. In addition to the educational activities sought in the renal field in fiscal 2021*1, in fiscal 2022, we provided grants for education in the central nervous system field*2, with a total of 7 million yen of assistance for three projects, and a total of 11 million yen for four projects in the renal field.

  • *1Themes for submission in the renal field: CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) initiatives to prevent aggravation
  • *2Themes for submission in the central nervous system field: Initiatives to raise awareness of neurological intractable diseases and improve the healthcare delivery system

For further information about the supported projects and eligible organizations please refer to the Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Medical Educational Subsidy website. (https://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/sustainability/educational_subsidy.html) (Japanese language only).

Support for Patients with Intractable Diseases and Their Families

The Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Tenohira Partner Program

The Company believes in the importance of developing new drugs for intractable diseases and providing support for patients with diseases and their families. Accordingly, in 2012, we established the Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Tenohira Partner Program. This program provides aid for the activities of organizations and support groups for patients with intractable diseases. These organizations work to improve patients’ medical treatment, education, and career prospects and to enhance their quality of life. In fiscal 2022, we provided assistance to 16 organizations.

Additionally, in October every year we receive a report from each organization we provided assistance to in the previous fiscal year, detailing their activities, and take the opportunity for the exchange of opinions and other information. For the past several years this has been conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in fiscal 2022, we divided this into two days, October 25 and October 31, at which 12 groups of organizations attended to offer reports and exchange opinions.

Meeting to report on support operations (held online)

For details about grant recipients and other information, please see the page "Support activities for patient groups with intractable diseases." (Japanese language only)

Job-Seeking Seminars for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)* — Tips for Working with IBD

Patients with IBD must live for the rest of the lives with an illness that will cause them to routinely experience digestive system difficulties such as abdominal pain and diarrhea that may improve or worsen with treatment, and which may require long-term hospitalization for surgery, and it is said that many experience difficulty in balancing work with their illness. Since fiscal 2021, we worked with GoodTe Inc., to hold online job-seeking seminars for IBD patients. At these seminars, patients gain hints on how to work with IBD through panel discussions with others with experience doing so, and through interaction with other IBD patients.

In fiscal 2022, these seminars were held three times, with a different theme on each occasion. We hope that these seminars help to address the worries and concerns that IBD patients have with regard to work.

*Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an ailment causing inflammation of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract, and the intestines in particular. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are collectively referred to as IBD.

Achievements in fiscal 2022

July 2022 “Tips for working with IBD — Job seekers”
November 2022 “Tips for working with IBD — New ways of working and living”
March 2022 “Tips for working with IBD — New ways of working and living Part 2”

We also offer information on a website for IBD patients, which can be viewed here.

Health support websites:

“World IBD Day” Web-based public lecture held on May 19
To facilitate understanding of IBD, May 19 of every year has been designated “World IBD Day,” in an effort to bring together the estimated 5 to 10 million people around the world who suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative so that they can encourage other, and to promote the correct understanding of these intractable ailments. In fiscal 2022, these efforts were themed on balancing work and medical treatment, with two patients sharing their experiences, and appearances from doctors and businesspeople who offer their support to patients, creating an opportunity to learn about working styles.
https://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/news/2023/info230425.html) (Japanese language only)

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Presents ALS Action Day

The Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Group sponsored an event to promote awareness of ALS, held by the Yamaguchi Prefecture-based Renofa Yamaguchi FC J-League team at the July 10 match between Renofa Yamaguchi FC and Albirex Niigata. 35 employees from the Onoda office (among others) participated as volunteers at the event.

At the ALS Action Day, the families of four ALS patients were invited to the stadium to watch the game, while one patient who was unable to attend in person participated in a stadium tour remotely using the “OriHime” avatar robot, supported by employees from the Group who were attending as volunteers.
Before the match, we provided approximately 400 servings of baked goods prepared by students enrolled in the cooking course at Nakamura Girls’ High School from recipes for easy-to-swallow food included in “ALS World Trip Restaurant” available on “ALS Station” website (https://als-station.jp) using locally-sourced ingredients. These goods were available at the ALS Awareness booth outside the venue. We also held an event at which ALS patients were able to try a device that allowed them to enter letters with their eyes to communicate their thoughts; at this event, they used these devices to send messages of support to ALS patients and J-League players. The baked goods made by the students of Nakamura Girls’ High School raised 46,972 yen in donations, with all proceeds given to the ALS Association of Japan.

Comments from employees who volunteered
  • There were many more visitors to the booth than I had anticipated. This was a wonderful opportunity for people to gain awareness of ALS.
  • I was able to talk with people from departments I had never interacted with before. I enjoyed being a volunteer and felt like I was part of a team.

There were also charity goods from WITH ALS on sale, and an exchange event between Mr. Masatane Muto, Director of WITH ALS and himself a sufferer of ALS. At half-time, Mr. Muto gave a DJ performance using eye-tracking, and the corporate character “Tanamin” livened up the show.

Charity baked goods provided by high school students
Visitors try eye-tracking input devices
The DJ Performance from Mr. Muto of WITH ALS

This event proved to be the kind of initiative that is crucial to a supportive society, with our volunteers, Renofa Yamaguchi, the Japan ALS Association, Nakamura Girls’ High School, and other regional and cross-industry organizations bringing their respective expertise and knowledge to bear in working towards a single goal.
Going forward, in addition to our business activities, we will proactively engage in activities in which employees participate in cooperation with local communities as they endeavor to solve a range of social issues, including efforts to promote disease awareness in support of patients and their families.

Support for Patients with Rare Diseases and Their Families (US)

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America (MTPA) has been supporting patients and their families to fight intractable diseases through various initiatives.

Sponsorship and participation in charity and walking events

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America (MTPA) co-sponsors and participates in various charity and walking events to raise awareness and recognition of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
In fiscal 2022, we co-sponsored and participated in 25 fundraising events. These events raise awareness and recognition of ALS and serve to bring ALS patients together to fight against the disease. They also offer opportunities for patients, families, and caregivers to learn about ALS. Through these sponsorships, we support regional and national programs and services such as fundraising events for ALS research, patient education, transportation to and from hospital, respite care*, and support activities at the state and national level.

*Respite care refers to care that allows caregivers to temporarily take time out from their duties for rest and recuperation.

Participating in Walk to Defeat ALS

Support for educational activities

MTPA supports 37 educational activities and ongoing efforts that provide educational tools to patients with ALS and Parkinson’s disease, and those with the rare diseases erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked protoporphyria (XLP), as well as to their families, in order to raise awareness of these illnesses. While working with the patient support community, with the same sense of mission, through this support, we are raising awareness of the diseases and providing education on them to patients and caregivers, creating an environment that alleviates the burden on the lives of patients and their families. In fiscal 2022, we held education symposiums, mental health support, caregiver programs, and meetings of patient organizations, as well as disease education support for young professional groups.

2022 Georgia's ALS Educational Symposium

Sponsoring and Participating in a Walking Event in Honor of Lou Gehrig Day

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Korea (MTPK) sponsored and took part in the “Route Challenge” walking event (June 21-July 20, 2022), in which ALS patients, their families, and volunteers walked together to support patients and raise awareness of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Route Challenge is a charity event in which cooperating businesses offer donations reflecting the number of steps participants walk. Approximately 48,000 people participated over the course of a month, with around 50 MTPK employees taking part. We hope that our participation will give us the opportunity to gain an understanding of the difficulties that patients fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease face, while at the same time deepening awareness and understanding of the disease in patients and their families.

  • *Called “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” after the American professional baseball player Lou Gehrig, who suffered from it. The medical name for this disease is “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.”
We participated together with ALS patients
People on the walk

Activities in Support of Children Fighting Illnesses

Through support for NPOs, etc., we engage in activities to assist children battling illnesses, along with their families.

Supporting Children’s Hospices

Children’s Hospices are facilities that provide children faced with life-threatening illnesses, along with their families, opportunities to learn and play, offering them the close relationship of a friend. However, there are only two such facilities in all of Japan that are not attached to hospitals, one each in the cities of Osaka and Yokohama. By participating in charity events and offering assistance through volunteering, we support the Yokohama Children’s Hospice and TSURUMI Children’s Hospice.

Supporting the Yokohama Children’s Hospice through Tokyo Yamathon*

The Tokyo Yamathon was held on October 22, 2022, by International Volunteer Group Japan. All fees for participating in this event were donated to the Yokohama Children’s Hospice Project. Although this was the first time in three years that the Yamathon had been held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as in previous years, the event was attended by many foreign residents of Japan, lending it an exotic air that added to the excitement. In addition to our employees participating, on the day we provided 1,000 bottles of our Aspara drink to participants.

*The Tokyo Yamathon is a fundraising event in which teams of two to four people walk to all or half of the stations on the JR Yamanote train line within a 12-hour period.

The Tokyo Yamathon 2022
Distributing our Aspara drinks

Supporting TSURUMI Children’s Hospital through the Osaka Marathon

Located in Osaka City’s Tsurumi Ward, TSURUMI Children’s Hospital (TCH) is the first community-based children’s hospice in Japan to be created in accordance with the philosophy of the United Kingdom’s Helen House, the first children’s hospice in the world. Four employees of the Company chosen by seeking volunteers in-house participated as TCH charity runners in the Osaka Marathon, which was held on February 25, 2023. Spurred on by the encouragement of a volunteer cheering squad, all of our charity runners were able to complete the marathon. All money raised in support of the charity runners was donated to TCH.

The Osaka Marathon runners and the cheering squad

Participating in the Osaka Great Santa Run Charity Event

Since 2014, the Company has co-sponsored the Osaka Great Santa Run charity event for children suffering from illnesses.
Blessed by clear skies, the Osaka Great Santa Run was held for the first time in three years on November 27, 2022. Lined with beautifully colored gingko trees, the course runs through Osaka Park, with participants donning Santa costumes to enjoy running or walking at their own pace for approximately four kilometers.
We supplied 2,000 Aspara drinks, with ten of our employees and their families volunteering to distribute them. They greeted runners at the goal line while handing out drinks, which were very well received in the warm humidity of the day.

  • *The Osaka Great Santa Run is a charity event in which participants put on Santa Claus costumes to enjoy running through Osaka Castle Park, with part of the participation fees used to give presents to children who are suffering from illness. The Christmas presents are distributed to children in hospitals, primarily in Osaka Prefecture.
The start of the Santa run
Distributing the Aspara drinks
Corporate character “Tanamin” with the volunteer staff

Blood Donation

According to the Japanese Red Cross, because blood cannot be artificially produced or stored for long periods of time, in order to secure blood that is needed for transfusions, there is said to be a need for approximately 14,000 people to donate blood each day.
Blood is important to save the precious lives of patients who need blood transfusions due to a disease or accident.
The Group cooperates actively with the Japanese Red Cross in blood donation activities at each site, including our head offices. Moreover, at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Indonesia’s Bandung Plant collaborates with the Indonesian Red Cross Society to participate in blood drives.
In fiscal 2022, 427 employees donated blood in Japan and overseas.

Giving blood at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Indonesia (Bandung plant)

Sale of Fresh-Baked Bread and Cookies from Welfare Facilities Catering to People with Disabilities

Once a month we hold direct sales of freshly baked bread and cookies made at welfare facilities catering to people with disabilities. Each carefully made, these baked goods are a favorite of our employees. The welfare facilities appreciate these sales as an opportunity to receive feedback from their customers directly. We will continue to support their efforts by purchasing from them.

Sales of bread and cookies

Contributing to Developing Countries

TABLE FOR TWO (TFT)

TFT is a social contribution activity that originated in Japan. It is aimed at simultaneously resolving the problems of hunger in developing countries and the problems of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases in industrially developed countries. At the employee cafeterias, when employees eat low-calorie meals that help prevent obesity, through TABLE FOR TWO International, 20 yen of the price is allocated to the cost of school meals in developing countries, such as countries in Africa and Asia. Twenty yen is the amount of money needed to provide one meal in a developing country.

In 2014, we introduced the TFT Program at the employee cafeteria at the headquarters office. Also, at offices, we have installed TFT vending machines, and a portion of the sales of drinks purchased from these machines is used to provide meals for children in developing countries. Employees have given high evaluations to this initiative, in which they can readily participate, and which enables children in developing countries and employees to improve their health at the same time. In fiscal 2022,90,944 yen was donated, and the cumulative total donated since the start of the activity reached 1,400,000 yen.

The school meals that are provided through donations are expected not only to help solve hunger among children but also to increase school attendance rates and grades, lead to gains in the children’s fundamental strength, and help prevent disease. In this way, these meals are playing an important role in helping to eliminate poverty. Moving forward, we will continue this initiative to help solve hunger and poverty among children in developing countries.

*TFT (https://jp.tablefor2.org/

Fiscal 2022 meals contributed through participation in the TABLE FOR TWO program (Converted at 20 yen per meal)

Contributions from the TFT menu Contributions from TFT vending machines Total
46,060yen
(2,303meals)
44,884yen
(2,244 meals)
90,944yen
(4,547meals)
Healthy TFT menu
Healthy TFT menu
TFT vending machines
TFT framework
Participating in Onigiri Action 2022

Onigiri Action is a campaign delivering hot school meals to children in Africa and Asia, themed around the concept of changing the world with Japanese food on World Food Day, October 16 each year. Under this initiative, five school lunches are distributed to children in Africa and Asia for every post on social media and other dedicated websites. The Company held Onigiri Action 2022 on October 27, 2022, with the cooperation of the company cafeteria while making a widespread appeal to employees of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group (the MCG Group). We made onigiri with slightly different ingredients than usual, together with seasonal side dishes, and helped everyone to take photographs of their smiles to post. This event provided an opportunity for people to bring global food and health problems closer to hand.
Onigiri Action (https://onigiri-action.com/en/

Many employees took part in Onigiri Action
Fliers with information on submissions were also distributed.
Holding Onigiri action (Head Office)

Participating in Vaccine Support Activities

The Group has been participating in vaccine support activities for children in developing countries since 2014. Through this program, unneeded books, CDs, and DVDs are donated and the proceeds from their sale are donated to Authorized NPO Japan Committee Vaccines for the World’s Children. Through this international contribution activity, those donations are used to deliver vaccines to children in developing countries, such as vaccines for six major infectious diseases. The price of a polio vaccine is only 20 yen per person. One book that is sitting on a shelf can protect two children from polio.
In fiscal 2022, a total of 185,612 yen, equivalent to polio vaccines for 9,281 children, was raised from employee donations and matching gifts from the Company. Since the start of these activities, total donations were about 2.53 million yen, equivalent to about 126,500 polio vaccines.
As part of our support for access to healthcare, we will continue these activities as we aim for a future in which children in developing countries live healthy and happy lives.

Participation in vaccine support activities
Participation in vaccine support activities

Fiscal 2022 contributions resulting from participation in vaccine support activities for children in developing countries

  Amount of contributions Polio vaccine (estimate)
Employees 92,806 yen 4,640.5 doses
Company matching 92,806 yen 4,640.5 doses
Total 185,612 yen 185,612 doses
A message received from the Japan Committee, Vaccine for the World’s Children (JCV)

Thank you very much for your continued support from the very start of the World Vaccine Books project. The track record of your company has reminded me once again of the truth in the phrase “continuity is strength.” We are delighted to see that this initiative has taken hold within your company, and for the active cooperation of all of your employees.
Although the World Vaccine Books and PET Cap Recovery activities undertaken in support of vaccines are only small actions in and of themselves, it is that small scale that is a common denominator in allowing anyone to start doing them at any time, the resulting accumulation of which will create a huge groundswell.
We are truly grateful to all the employees of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for their solid support of JCV and for their constant source of courage and energy. Going forward, we would greatly appreciate it if you could join us in our activities in support of children’s vaccination. We will continue to dedicate ourselves to delivering vaccines to as many of the world’s children as possible.
Japan Committee Vaccine for the World’s Children (https://www.jcv-jp.org/) (Japanese language only)

Parents and children, we met at vaccination venues (Lao children ©️JCV)
Elementary school students (Lao children ©️JCV)

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