JCP urges health minister to improve criteria for recognizing Hibakusha’s illnesses caused by A-bombings

   About 250,000 survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombings (Hibakusha) are calling for “No more Hibakusha!” while having to endure the suffering from the after-effects of exposure to the radiation from the atomic bombings 62 years ago. Most of them are 75 or older now. Worse still, the Japanese government has certified only about 2,000 of them as Hibakusha with A-bomb related diseases qualified to receive special healthcare benefits from the government.

   It is the responsibility of the government of Japan, the only atomic bombed country, to help reduce Hibakusha’s suffering while working hard to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. However, it continues to underestimate the damage and after-effects of the atomic bombings.

   On October 18, Koike Akira, the Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors who heads the JCP task force on the Hibakusha issue, made representations to Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Masuzoe Yoichi, urging the government to take steps to drastically improve the current criteria used to certify Hibakusha’s illnesses as caused by exposure to radiation from the atomic bombing.

   Pointing out that six district courts have ruled that the government system of recognizing Hibakusha as having atomic bomb-related diseases must be drastically reviewed and that all parties support these rulings, Koike said, “The government must act now to meet Hibakusha’s pressing needs.”

   The JCP demands that the current certification standards that are excessively strict be abolished. It calls for a government decree that specifies diseases and injuries that are recognized as consequences of exposure to radiation, so that hibakusha who are in need of medical treatment can be certified immediately without a screening process as having atomic bomb-related health problems. It also urges the government to overhaul the “medical sub-committee” in charge of the examination of applications for atomic bomb-disease certification.

   Nishiyama Masanori, the ministry’s Health Policy Bureau director, stated that the ministry cannot ignore the fact that the government has lost all the six lawsuits, and that a ministry panel is now considering revising the certification system.

   But Nishiyama added, “We cannot dismiss the DS86 (Dosimetric System 1986),” a system used to measure the amounts of exposure doses in the initial stage of exposure to radiation.

   Koike said, “These court rulings stress that many things remain unclear as regards Hibakusha’s aftereffects caused by radiation and that measuring exposure doses based on DS86 cannot serve to adequately assess the aftereffects of radiation exposure. The ongoing review must be an effort to establish scientific criteria based on the actual state of Hibakusha.”

   Koike also said that the Hibakusha Aid Law must be amended to become applicable to Hibakusha of Hiroshima or Nagasaki currently living outside of Japan so that they are qualified to apply for Hibakusha certification or receive the special healthcare benefits for Hibakusha with A-bomb related diseases.

- Akahata, October 19, 2007