2009 November 25 - December 1 [
WELFARE]
Hepatitis bill passes Lower House
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November 27& December 1, 2009
Hepatitis patients’ pressure finally pushed the House of Representatives on November 26 to unanimously pass a bill to offer them financial relief. It is expected to be enacted during the current session of the Diet.
The JCP has consistently called for an early enactment of the bill based on the stance that the issues related to people’s lives must be the first ones to be addressed and solved. Prior to the passage, JCP representative Takahashi Chizuko at the Lower House Welfare Committee meeting demanded that the government strengthen its support to the estimated 3.5 million hepatitis patients.
The bill states that the government is responsible for causing the infection of hepatitis B and C and requires the government to take comprehensive measures to provide assistance for them.
Yamaguchi Michiko, a leader of the plaintiffs in the two-year struggles of hepatitis lawsuits, said after the Lower House meeting, “Promises had been broken many times. It was a really long way to reach this stage.”
Bill to help hepatitis patients becomes law
The bill to help hepatitis patients came into law with the approval of all political parties, except for the Liberal Democratic Party, in the House of Councilors plenary session on November 30.
After the enactment of the law, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo met with representatives of a hepatitis patients’ group in the Diet building to thank them for their efforts.
In the meeting, Shii pointed out that based on the enacted law the government should address three tasks: implement measures to decrease hepatitis patients’ financial burdens for receiving medical treatment; draw up a comprehensive and concrete plan to cope with hepatitis related diseases, including hepatocirrhosis and liver cancer; and immediately settle out of court with plaintiffs of B virus hepatitis lawsuits in line with the spirit of the enacted law recognizing government responsibility.
- Akahata, November 27& December 1, 2009
