Importance of Female Healthcare and Social Issues
As a company involved in “life,” we seek not only to undertake corporate activities (i.e., providing valuable pharmaceutical products), but also to contribute to the healthy development of society by promoting sustainability, for example through ESG initiatives. We have identified 11 material issues that we consider particularly important to sustainability, with the recognition that “contribution to women’s health” and “contribution to animal health” are material issues that create value unique to ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings. We believe these material issues not only contribute toward the improvement of people’s health and progress in society, but also drive our evolution as a company. We regard women’s health as an issue that society as a whole must address in order to ensure a prosperous future for all. The Japanese government supports Femtech (products and services using technology to address health issues specific to women) in its Basic Policies Related to Women 2024 (Intensive Policy for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality 2024), and we consider the concept so important that we established a dedicated department. As a “leading company in women’s healthcare,” we seek to resolve the societal issues surrounding women’s health through an integrated approach covering prevention, testing and diagnostics, treatment, and prognosis.
Atsushi Maruo
Senior Managing Member of the Board of Directors, Representative Director, in charge of Sustainability
ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings Co., Ltd.
Value Creation
ASKA Pharmaceutical’s domestic initiatives in the area of menstrual symptoms had a social contribution of ¥42.8 billion in FY2023.
Conditions and diseases that are specific to women, such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and dysmenorrhea, affect a growing number of women worldwide. One reason is that women these days experience many more menstrual cycles during their lifetime than in earlier times. With the advancement of women in society, there has been a trend toward marrying and giving birth later in life. In addition, in Japan the average number of births during a woman’s lifetime has more than halved, falling from a historical level of five to the current average of two. As a result, the number of menstrual cycles in a woman’s lifetime is estimated to have risen dramatically from 50 to 450,1 an increase of roughly nine times.
In Japan, an estimated seven million or so women are coping with various conditions and disorders related to menstruation, leaving them unable to perform at their best. This has been reported to result in an economic loss of ¥567.2 billion.
By providing a wealth of medicines alleviating women’s menstrual symptoms in its capacity as a leading company in the Ob/Gyn field, ASKA Pharmaceutical helps to reduce such losses by an estimated ¥42.8 billion annually.
ASKA’s approach is to look at prevention, testing and diagnostics, treatment, and prognosis as we work to help resolve such social issues.
1. Short, R.V. The evolution of human reproduction. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1976;195: 3-24
Estimate based on Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Estimated Economic Losses due to Health Issues Specific to Women, and the Necessity of Health Management
Work productivity losses among women with “absenteeism” or a “decline in work efficiency/performance” due to menstrual symptoms is calculated based on the following variables.
Number of female workers (regular employees/non-regular employees), symptomatic but inactive3 ratio, percentage of absentees citing menstrual symptoms as reason, number of days absent due to menstrual symptoms (annually), percentage of women going to work even when experiencing menstrual symptoms, percentage of women going to work whose performance suffers due to menstrual symptoms, degree of decline in performance due to menstrual symptoms, number of days on which performance was affected by menstrual symptoms (annually), and average wage (per day)
2. Basis for calculation
Reduction in annual economic loss due to ASKA’s pharmaceuticals, ¥42.8 billion = Reduction in annual economic loss due to medical care for women’s menstrual symptoms, ¥503.1 billion x Percentage of annual economic loss avoided through ASKA’s pharmaceuticals, 8.5%
Percentage of annual economic loss avoided through ASKA’s pharmaceuticals, 8.5% = Number of people taking ASKA’s pharmaceuticals, 520,127 ÷ Number of female workers who have symptoms associated with menstruation and take action, 6,110,000
3. Women who have symptoms associated with menstruation but do not take any action