Please abolish law to ‘help’ the disabled to be self-reliant!

Japan Press Weekly

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

Please abolish law to ‘help’ the disabled to be self-reliant!

About 10,000 disabled people on October 29 held a rally in Tokyo’s Hibiya Amphitheater, calling for the abolition of the law to impede self-supporting efforts of people with disabilities and for the establishment of an alternative law.

The government at present imposes a 10 percent fee on handicapped persons across the board when they use care facilities or services, regardless of the extent of disabilities, based on the government’s “pay-as-you-go” principle.

The day’s event was organized by the Japan Council on Disability and the Japanese Federation of the Deaf. These groups are working to urge the government to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

They have succeeded in winning a commitment from the government to abolish the “self-support” law and enact a new law. However, a move to postpone the previously made decision to abolish the law is currently being discussed in the governing parties.

A mother with a disabled child said, “Because of the ‘beneficiary-pays’ system, we have to pay 3,000-10,000 yen a month to receive care and education services.”

A mother whose child has heart disease said, “In the discussion to reform the system, the government pays little attention to patients with incurable diseases or chronic diseases.”

A person who suffers from fibromyalgia said, “Many patients with incurable diseases have difficulties in getting a disability healthcare certificate because our disabilities are not visible.”

Invited to the rally, Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Takahashi Chizuko stated, “The government should immediately put a stop to the ‘beneficiary-pays’ system even before introducing a new law. We, the JCP, will work together with you to create a society in which all the people can live without discrimination no matter if they have disabilities or not.”
- Akahata, October 30, 2010