Japan Press Weekly

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2011 June 8 - 14 [WELFARE]

Hidankyo: Gov’t must recognize Fukushima N-accident victims as Hibakusha

The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) is calling on the government to provide the same healthcare as for atomic-bomb survivors to the health victims of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant accident.

Hidankyo’s ten new board members, including Taniguchi Sumiteru, on June 9 visited Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at the JCP headquarters. They said to Shii that the government should revise the survivors assistance law and should officially designate the Fukushima nuclear accident sufferers as nuclear-disaster victims so that they can receive the same medical support as Hibakusha. Shii positively embraced their suggestion.

Hidankyo Assistant Secretary General Kido Sueichi stated, “The government must immediately issue disaster-victim certificates and give them regular medical check-ups, because radiation-induced diseases may appear later.”

A Hibakusha said, “We are concerned that nuclear accident victims will suffer from discrimination and health problems just as we have.”

Shii replied, “It is an important proposal that nuclear accident victims carry the official designation certificate of Hibakusha,” and expressed, “I agree with the request and will put forth my best efforts to realize it.”

Regarding the health problems caused by radioactivity, Shii pointed out that not only external exposure but also internal exposure must be considered, and that the government should recognize nuclear accident victims as long as there is the probability that their health problems are caused by exposure to radiation.

He then stressed that the government should apply the same criteria of recognizing radiation diseases to nuclear accident victims so that the health of children and residents of Fukushima will be protected.