Govt Creates Criteria for Information Disclosure of Infectious Diseases Patient; Aims to Improve Clarity, Protect Identities

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:22 JST, July 14, 2025

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has established a standard for disclosing patient information in connection with infectious diseases to help the nation be better prepared for future pandemics. Patient information is disclosed by prefectural governments and government ordinance-designated cities.

The government is aiming to provide patient information that could be useful in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in a standardized manner while ensuring the protection of sensitive personal information. The ministry presented the criteria to municipal governments earlier this month.

The criteria cover the early stages of outbreaks of diseases such as novel influenza virus and novel coronavirus, which cause severe respiratory symptoms.

The information to be published includes the age, sex, prefecture of residence, date and time of onset of the disease and behavioral history such as flight number of planes patients have been on.

Information about preexisting conditions or deaths will not be published in principle but could be considered for publication if it is deemed necessary to prevent the spread of infection.

If the number of patients exceeds a certain level, municipal governments will not be required to publish information on individual cases.

Currently, there is no standard for publishing patient information except in the case of Category 1 infectious diseases, which are regarded as exceedingly dangerous, including Ebola haemorrhagic fever, according to the health ministry.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, information published by municipal governments varied, with there being some cases in which information that could be used to identify an individual was disclosed.