The Japan Medical Women’s Association has registered April 4th as “Japan Women Doctors’ Day”. That day is the birthday of Ginko Ogino, the first woman in Japan to receive a national medical qualification. In the United States, the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell, the world’s first woman to qualify as a doctor, has been celebrated as National Women Physicians’ Day since 1849 to honor her accomplishments. We have also established our own Women Doctors’ Day to celebrate the activities of female doctors in Japan, which began with Ginko Ogino. In addition, we would like to remember the discrimination against female students in medical school entrance exams that was discovered in 2018, and use this as an opportunity to promote gender equality in the medical field, which still has a long way to go. The JMWA held a commemorative event on April 7th to commemorate the establishment of “Japanese Women Doctors’ Day.”
2) LGBTQ and Medical Care
Since 2001, we have been holding lectures focusing on sexual issues among young women, but since 2019, we have started to cover not only sexual issues but also women’s health more broadly as the Women’s Health Support Project Lecture. In March 2024, we invited two people who are also involved in support activities to give lectures titled “LGBTQ and Medical Care” about the relationship between people living with diverse genders and medical care. The lectures were published online. In Japan, it was reported on February 7th that the Okayama Family Court’s Tsuyama Branch had decided to allow transgender people who have not undergone surgery to eliminate their reproductive ability to change their gender, marking a major step forward in Japanese society. I feel it.
3) The 69th Annual General Meeting
The 69th Annual General Meeting of the Japan Medical Women’s Association will be held on May 19 2024 in Hamamatsucho, Tokyo. This year, the re-election of officers will be held (every two years).