Japan, Tesco & KPMG: This Week in Healthcare
Japan’s healthcare sector is undergoing rapid digital transformation as leading technology and financial companies collaborate to build secure, AI-driven healthcare ecosystems.
Initiatives led by Fujitsu, IBM Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC) and SoftBank Corp are focusing on strengthening data sovereignty, improving interoperability and enhancing healthcare delivery through cloud and AI technologies.
By integrating medical and personal health data securely across institutions, these collaborations aim to support sustainable healthcare systems, reduce operational burdens on medical professionals and enable more personalised, patient-centric care in Japan.
Tesco has published its 2026 Sustainability Report detailing how the retailer is building a healthier food system while maintaining affordable pricing for customers.
The document provides data on carbon reduction, energy efficiency, food waste management and dietary improvements across operations and supply chains.
The report examines how partnerships with suppliers, farmers, charities and industry groups help Tesco work towards net zero targets and other sustainability goals.
These collaborative efforts span multiple areas of the business, from farm-level interventions to in-store health services, demonstrating how large retailers can influence public health outcomes through their operational decisions.
Healthcare is a vast industry with 24/7 facilities that consume large amounts of energy whilst generating medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous waste that can be difficult to dispose of.
Research highlighted by KPMG shows that the sector accounts for nearly 5% of global carbon emissions through energy-intensive facilities, extensive supply chains and medical waste generation.
The Bahamas is emerging as an example of how healthcare leaders can integrate sustainability and climate resilience into long-term planning while preparing for the growing health impacts of a warming planet.
During Mental Health Awareness Week, the UK government launched a call for evidence to shape a new cross-government mental health strategy.
Part of the 10 Year Health Plan, this initiative invites clinicians, frontline workers and experts to share views on transforming care for adults and children in England.
The strategy aims to drive a shift towards prevention, treating people faster and supporting them to remain active in their communities.
Deloitte has released the 16th edition of its ‘Measuring the Return from Pharmaceutical Innovation’ report.
Overall, pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) returns improved for the third consecutive year.
Deloitte’s data shows that much of this growth is being driven by a small number of high-value obesity treatments, particularly glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1s) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide-based drugs (GIPs).
Company portals
Executives
Beccy Fenton
Global Head of Healthcare at KPMG International and Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG UK
Brett Davis
US Chief Innovation Officer
Christine Heffernan
Group Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer
Ken Murphy
CEO
Stewart Gilliland
Chair of the Sustainability Committee and Non-executive Director
Takashi Kitayama
VP, Head of SMBC Group Unit, Global Account Director
Yannis Dracoulis
Partner, Forensic, Financial Crime & Disputes