 Roadmap to be made to prevent bias against leprosy patients A Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare study panel that was established following the court ruling that the government policy of segregating Hansen's disease patients is unconstitutional, on March 1, submitted its final report to Minister Otsuji Hidehisa. Pointing out that the government is responsible for the segregation and bias against leprosy patients based on the century-old policy of quaranteeing them, the ministry's third-party panel has proposed that the government establish a roadmap committee to prevent the recurrence of the same mistake. The panel also suggested that policymaking on public health should be in compliance with the Constitution as well as international human rights law based on the latest scientific knowledge. It called for a system to be established in order to swiftly relieve those patients whose human rights are abused and for information concerning Hansen's disease-related issues to be disclosed and saved. Kodama Yuji, the former leprosy patient who was forced into an isolated sanatorium, said, "I cannot die before I confirm the establishment of preventive measures." (end) |