Sharp decline in percentage of certified A-bomb disease patients

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Sharp decline in percentage of certified A-bomb disease patients

The percentage of certification issued to applicants by the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry as A-bomb related disease patients sharply declined to 15 percent from last year’s 56 percent.

The HLW Ministry committee dealing with certification only certified 248 cases out of 1,611 applications filed during the Apr.-Jun. 2010 quarter for certification as A-bomb related disease patients. The ministry published the data on September 21.

The government has set forward new standards under which those who were exposed to radiation within about 3.5km of the epicenter and who satisfy other requirements will be approved. In July 2009, it increased the coverage of certification to seven diseases. However, even against this background, applications were rejected one after another under the allegation that the causal relationship between the radiation and the disease cannot be established even when the cases satisfy the application requirements.

By breakdown of diseases, 175 cases of malignant tumors ranked at the top in the certification approvals for the Apr.-Jun. quarter.

Hidenori Yamamoto, head of the collective lawsuit case for A-bomb related disease patients, said, “We don’t see by what yardstick the ministry certifies one application and rejects another. The ministry has the responsibility to give specific reasons for why many applications were rejected. The government should settle the A-bomb related diseases issue without the patients having to file lawsuits.”

-Akahata, September 23, 2010