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Home > About Toshiba > CSR > Highlights of CSR Activities > Activities in the Past > Toward Promoting CSR-oriented Management Worldwide > In Europe
Overview
The Aging of Society and Healthcare Pose a Great Challenge to Europe
In Europe, where people of different cultures and histories live together, different nations or regions have various social problems. Of these, the most common and of greatest concern is that of the global environment - specifically climate change and use of hazardous chemicals. Europe takes the lead in addressing such problems.
In Europe, which imposes the most stringent environmental restrictions, Toshiba Group not only complies with laws and regulations, such as WEEE directives*1, RoHS directives*2 and REACH*3, but also provides environmentally conscious products and is now establishing a recycling system for end of-life products.
The European Commission (EC) is now actively addressing medical care insurance as a major social problem in response to the aging of society and the rising costs of publicly subsidized medical care. In particular, the EC is promoting medical service innovation using state-of-the-art technology developed by private companies and calling for active health management by citizens themselves. In response to this movement, Toshiba Group has been developing medical image diagnostic system that helps early detection and diagnosis.
- 1
- WEEE directives: EU directives for waste electrical and electronic equipment
- 2
- RoHS directives: Use restrictions made by the EU on certain chemical substances in electrical and electronic equipment
- 3
- REACH: Regulations on registration, evaluation, authorization and restrictions on chemicals
Case Study
Developing Medical Systems for Healthcare and Early Disease Detection
The Toshiba Group supplies Computed Tomography (CT), ultrasound systems, etc. on a global basis, including Europe European people are strongly averse to X-ray exposure during health checkups, as evident in their very stringent attitude toward the management of chemicals in products. Overcoming such resistance is a major challenge faced by the medical community.
For instance, in order to minimize such concerns of the patients, Toshiba Group provides a CT system, which enables a heart image to be captured without sticking a needle into an artery. This system helps in the early detection of heart disease, such as myocardial infarction, which is a leading cause of death alongside cancer.
"Aquilion ONE™," a CT launched in 2008, focuses on minimizing radiation exposure. CTs x-radiate during imaging, but Aquilion ONE™ has successfully reduced the radiation exposure level to a quarter of that of a conventional CT by allowing imaging of the entire area covering the heart and brain in as few as 0.35 seconds.
Opinion of a Medical Expert
I Henceforth Also Expect Medical Examineefriendly Groundbreaking Technology
I have been engaged in joint research with Toshiba since 2002. When I saw the moving image of a heart imaged with "Aquilion ONE™," I was surprised at its vividness and clarity. European people are very concerned about radiation exposure during health check-ups. Toshiba's CT is a groundbreaking device that allows high-quality imaging of a wide area from the brain and heart and even the four limbs in a flash. I expect Toshiba to actively engage in PR activities to help people accept the device so that as many people as possible can benefit from such state-of-the-art image diagnostic technology. I also expect Toshiba to further develop technologies that really benefit medical examinees.
Prof. Dr. Med. Patrik Rogalla Institute of Radiology Charite Campus Mitte
- Toshiba in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
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- Consolidated Subsidiaries:
- 94 companies (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Russia, etc.)
- Number of Employees:
- Approx. 10,000
