Historically, the progress of long term-oxygen therapy (LTOT) in Japan has been characterized by collaboration among academicgroups, policy makers, and industrial companies. The public health insurance program has covered the cost of LTOT since 1985.Thomas Petty’s group in Denver enthusiastically carried out the public implementation of LTOT and conveyed the concept of pulmonaryrehabilitation for the processing with LTOT. Although the target diseases of LTOT in Japan tended to be chronic obstructivepulmonary disease or sequelae of primary lung tuberculosis, it was soon applied for cardiac diseases as well as other pulmonarydiseases. Together with increasing medical costs for geriatric patients, the political conversion from hospital based care ofa traditional style to home care system has been performed, with two background reasons: the improvement of quality of life ofpatients and the reduction of the medical expense. Presently, LTOT plays a pivotal role in the successful implementation of homerespiratory care for elderly patients. In addition, this promotes comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation, a team approach, andclose liaisons between primary care and hospitals. Currently, the total number of patients using LTOT exceeds 150,000. In Japan,LTOT resulted in an advancement in the medical care as well as in administrative decision to introduce it as a nationwide systemafter analyzing the results of opinion polls of patients with respiratory failure. However, the recent great earthquake in East Japanrevealed that many unresolved problems remain for these patients, and these issues are of great concern.Historically, the progress of long term-oxygen therapy (LTOT) in Japan has been characterized by collaboration among academicgroups, policy makers, and industrial companies. The public health insurance program has covered the cost of LTOT since 1985.Thomas Petty’s group in Denver enthusiastically carried out the public implementation of LTOT and conveyed the concept of pulmonaryrehabilitation for the processing with LTOT. Although the target diseases of LTOT in Japan tended to be chronic obstructivepulmonary disease or sequelae of primary lung tuberculosis, it was soon applied for cardiac diseases as well as other pulmonarydiseases. Together with increasing medical costs for geriatric patients, the political conversion from hospital based care ofa traditional style to home care system has been performed, with two background reasons: the improvement of quality of life ofpatients and the reduction of the medical expense. Presently, LTOT plays a pivotal role in the successful implementation of homerespiratory care for elderly patients. In addition, this promotes comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation, a team approach, andclose liaisons between primary care and hospitals. Currently, the total number of patients using LTOT exceeds 150,000. In Japan,LTOT resulted in an advancement in the medical care as well as in administrative decision to introduce it as a nationwide systemafter analyzing the results of opinion polls of patients with respiratory failure. However, the recent great earthquake in East Japanrevealed that many unresolved problems remain for these patients, and these issues are of great concern
