Health Management

At Shionogi, we uphold the company policy “shionogi strives constantly to supply the best possible medicine to protect the health and well-being of the patients we serve.” We believe that, in order to put this policy into action, it is most important that all Shionogi employees maintain and enhance their mental and physical health to be able to work in good spirits, with all members of their families who support them also in good health, leading a sound family life. Accordingly, we announced the “Shionogi Health Declaration 2018,” thus committing ourselves to enhancing and maintaining the good health of all of our employees and their families, cultivating a corporate culture that champions good health and healthy habits and further developing an environment that encourages all to pursue good health, all through concerted efforts by the Company and the corporate health insurance association.

Request to support their drives for health management. We believe that health management is effective in not only enhancing employee productivity but also securing quality human resources indispensable for the continuation of drug discovery-based business, and increasingly taking on challenges in the face of the dwindling working-age population in Japan. Shionogi is determined to continue its health management initiatives to be and remain a company that is needed and cherished by its stakeholders for many years to come. All Shionogi employees hope for good health for all people as their personal wish, earnestly engaging in their day-to-day operations and acting out the corporate philosophy to make greater achievements.

The following are the five focal points of the Shionogi Health Declaration 2018. For their realization, we are carrying out a range of policy measures to allow the employees to fully demonstrate their abilities at work.

We intend to maintain the rate of participation in periodic physical checkups among Shionogi Group employees in Japan, which has remained at 100% for some time. With regard to Group company employees outside Japan, we have begun looking into their status of physical checkups, preparing to implement measures to encourage greater participation.

We have established a system of collaboration between the Company and the health insurance association for employee health enhancement. Concretely, the two parties share employees’ health data, which are analyzed to provide personalized instruction for health maintenance and enhancement and effective disease prevention. As part of this system, two sets of policy measures have been drafted to target employees referred to instruction in lifestyle-related diseases following a physical checkup: one for those in a serious condition and the other for those referred to specific health instruction. 

Presenteeism loss refers to loss attributed to employees who are present at work but are unable to perform as usual or as expected because of their poor mental and/or physical condition.

Shionogi has organized seminars for employees and media organizations on the theme of “presentism loss,” a notion that has come to draw attention in recent years as an indicator of labor productivity. The invited expert speaker (Dr. Kou Matsudaira, the 22nd Century Medical and Research Center of the University of Tokyo Hospital) communicated not only medical knowledge but also shared practical information with the audience, such as simple exercises one can do at work to alleviate lower backache. Through this kind of activity, Shionogi strives to raise health awareness on the part of not only its employees but also society at large.

At the Head Office and the Shionogi Pharmaceutical Research Center, smoking zones have been entirely removed, already achieving a smoke-free environment on their premises. The other sites and divisions have been continuously working toward the ultimate goal of making all Shionogi workplaces smoke-free by 2020. Their actions include actively encouraging those who wish to quit smoking to seek specified medical attention on an outpatient basis, the purchase of mass-market smoking cession medications, and promotion of the use of medical clinics for care (management) similar to outpatient care for smoking cessation.

In April 2020, Shionogi issued Shionogi Group Smoke-Free Declaration to step up its antismoke efforts.

To realize a workplace environment that does not trigger mental health issues among employees, various measures are implemented: for example, educational and training programs for employees, including those in managerial or supervisory posts; counseling; legally recognized tests to check employees’ stress levels; and advice and supervision for employees working long hours. Moreover, support is provided to employees on leave due to mental health issues to assist them in planning their return to work and reconciling therapy with work.

As a company selected for the list of the “Health & Productivity” stocks, Shionogi actively assists other companies in their promotion of health management by, for example, speaking with journalists from specialized magazines and sharing information on Shionogi’s health management initiatives with other companies at their request to support their drives for health management.