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At present, mobile phones are not a useful tool for medical control during a disaster. We have estimated the number of satellite channels that would be needed for telemedicine in a major disaster using the Erlang B equation. This indicated that 29 satellite channels would be sufficient for the operation of a telemedicine system for hospital-to-hospital communications during a major disaster in Japan. Governments at local and national levels in Japan, as well as private organizations, require an independent satellite telecommunication infrastructure to deal with the aftermath of disasters.

In 1990, we conducted a questionnaire survey showing that many nurses had incorrect knowledge of AIDS resulting in inappropriate attitudes toward AIDS patients. Following the first survey conducted in 1990, nurses were given various forms of AIDS education. The effectiveness of the AIDS education requires assessment. Therefore a second questionnaire survey was performed in 1993 to assess changes in nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS. The same questionnaire as used in the first survey was sent to a random sample of nurses working at general hospitals in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The questionnaire covered knowledge of AIDS, psychological responses, attitudes and conduct around infected persons and measures against AIDS. Results of both questionnaire surveys showed that the majority of nurses acquired their knowledge predominantly from the mass media, and a large number of nurses worried that AIDS would spread in Japan. Almost half of the nurses were worried that they might be infected with AIDS. The second survey showed that nurses who acquired knowledge of AIDS from printed material, pamphlets and other educational resources, including lectures had increased. In 1993, many more nurses had accurate knowledge compared to the number in the first survey. In 1993 the number of nurses who discriminated against AIDS patients and HIV-infected persons had decreased.