The Lancet Infectious Disease
May 2009   Volume 9  Number 5  Pages 265 – 330
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

H5N1 influenza vaccination policy in Japan Michiaki Masuda, Shigeo Sugita, Kazumichi Kuroda, Hidekazu Nishimura Vaccine preparedness and the timely use of stockpiled vaccines are important issues for tackling pandemic influenza.1 In Japan, based on the government’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Action Plan (PIPAP),2 the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, affiliated with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), took the initiative to develop H5N1 vaccines in collaboration with domestic manufacturers. Consequently, production of H5N1 inactivated whole-virion vaccine containing aluminium hydroxide gel adjuvant was approved in October, 2007, for two Japanese manufacturers.