Imperial Japanese Army Hospitals in New Guinea did not provide medical care comparable to that received by American and Australian soldiers. Patients admitted to these hospitals suffered from gastroenteritis, malaria and malnutrition and their physicians were not well trained. Since the Japanese preferred to treat their casualties as far forward as possible, their preparations to evacuate the sick and the wounded out of the combat zone proved inadequate.
The difficulty the Japanese had in caring for their patients can be seen in the case fatality rates of a Field Hospital attached to the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade during the latter part of the Buna campaign in early 1943. [1]
| Diagnosis | Percentage of admissions with diagnosis who died |
| Beriberi | 25 |
| Bullet wounds | 55 |
| Diarrhoea-dysentery-gastroenteritis | 60 |
| Fragment (shell) wounds | 39 |
| Malaria | 45 |
| Tuberculosis | 20 |
1. "Jap medical problems in the South and Southwest Pacific", 21–22.
Japanese medical:
Overview text Images Evacuation Gastroenteritis Hospitals Malaria Nutrition Physicians Surgical WATANABE Tetsuo
