Hiroshima Memo: The International Contribution of Radiation Medicine
Mar. 25, 2008
by Akira Tashiro, Executive Director of the Hiroshima Peace Media Center
“I feel tired all the time. Is this due to radiation exposure?” “Doctors in Hiroshima could surely cure me. I wish they would come here to examine us.” People living in areas contaminated by radiation, as well as those exposed to radiation through accidents, expressed strong anxiety about their health. At the same time, they looked to the A-bombed city of Hiroshima with high expectations of support.
Reporters of the Chugoku Shimbun repeatedly encountered such scenes while engaged in writing a feature series entitled “Exposure--Victims of Radiation Speak Out” (1989-1990), an investigation that encompassed 21 locations in 15 countries. We discovered that people who have been exposed to radiation and are sick or harbor health concerns see Hiroshima as a kind of “health haven” that can treat their illnesses with medical expertise accrued through caring for A-bomb survivors, more than they do a city devoted to peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Tragically, even after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world's radiation victims have continued to increase in substantial numbers. And the vast majority have been mired in circumstances where even their own governments have, for the most part, neglected them.
Prompted by our experiences as reporters on this series, we subsequently urged the governments of Hiroshima Prefecture and Hiroshima City, as well as local medical organizations, to expand Hiroshima's commitment to radiation sufferers by playing a more active role in assisting the radiation victims of the world.
Toranosuke Takeshita, Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture at the time, responded positively to our appeal. In 1990, Hiroshima Prefecture received the first overseas visitor for radiation-related training, a doctor from Goiania City, Brazil where over 200 people were exposed to a radioactive substance (Cesium 137) used in medical equipment that had been left unattended at a former hospital site. Then, in 1991, the Hiroshima International Council for Health Care of the Radiation-Exposed (HICARE) was formed with the mutual financial support of the governments of Hiroshima Prefecture and Hiroshima City.
Seventeen years have now passed since HICARE was established. Medical experts in Hiroshima have provided training to a large number of doctors from abroad and have visited the world's radiation-related sites in person. One very fruitful result has been HICARE's ongoing support for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster and sufferers of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in the former Soviet Union, made possible through cooperation with citizens' groups in Hiroshima.
At the same time, challenges still remain. One such challenge is verifying to what extent the doctors who have received training in Hiroshima are subsequently treating radiation victims, including A-bomb survivors overseas, after returning to their countries. Another challenge involves forming more opportunities for collaboration with the A-bombed city of Nagasaki. Through steps like these, the effectiveness of HICARE's activities can be strengthened.
As long as nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons factories, nuclear power plants, radioactive waste dumps, and other potential sources of radiation exposure continue to exist, more hibakusha may emerge anytime, anywhere, on this planet. In a number of locations, including Iraq, scores of new hibakusha have already been produced by the use of depleted uranium munitions and their radioactive consequences. The role of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the field of radiation medicine will undoubtedly grow in importance in the future.
It's been quite some time since the Japanese government and political leaders began calling on the nation to make “international contributions.” Japan, which has claimed an identity as “the only A-bombed country,” must focus more energy on creating an international contribution to medicine--in this case, the field of radiation medicine--through such actions as alliances with the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and financial support for HICARE's efforts.
“I feel tired all the time. Is this due to radiation exposure?” “Doctors in Hiroshima could surely cure me. I wish they would come here to examine us.” People living in areas contaminated by radiation, as well as those exposed to radiation through accidents, expressed strong anxiety about their health. At the same time, they looked to the A-bombed city of Hiroshima with high expectations of support.
Reporters of the Chugoku Shimbun repeatedly encountered such scenes while engaged in writing a feature series entitled “Exposure--Victims of Radiation Speak Out” (1989-1990), an investigation that encompassed 21 locations in 15 countries. We discovered that people who have been exposed to radiation and are sick or harbor health concerns see Hiroshima as a kind of “health haven” that can treat their illnesses with medical expertise accrued through caring for A-bomb survivors, more than they do a city devoted to peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Tragically, even after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world's radiation victims have continued to increase in substantial numbers. And the vast majority have been mired in circumstances where even their own governments have, for the most part, neglected them.
Prompted by our experiences as reporters on this series, we subsequently urged the governments of Hiroshima Prefecture and Hiroshima City, as well as local medical organizations, to expand Hiroshima's commitment to radiation sufferers by playing a more active role in assisting the radiation victims of the world.
Toranosuke Takeshita, Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture at the time, responded positively to our appeal. In 1990, Hiroshima Prefecture received the first overseas visitor for radiation-related training, a doctor from Goiania City, Brazil where over 200 people were exposed to a radioactive substance (Cesium 137) used in medical equipment that had been left unattended at a former hospital site. Then, in 1991, the Hiroshima International Council for Health Care of the Radiation-Exposed (HICARE) was formed with the mutual financial support of the governments of Hiroshima Prefecture and Hiroshima City.
Seventeen years have now passed since HICARE was established. Medical experts in Hiroshima have provided training to a large number of doctors from abroad and have visited the world's radiation-related sites in person. One very fruitful result has been HICARE's ongoing support for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster and sufferers of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in the former Soviet Union, made possible through cooperation with citizens' groups in Hiroshima.
At the same time, challenges still remain. One such challenge is verifying to what extent the doctors who have received training in Hiroshima are subsequently treating radiation victims, including A-bomb survivors overseas, after returning to their countries. Another challenge involves forming more opportunities for collaboration with the A-bombed city of Nagasaki. Through steps like these, the effectiveness of HICARE's activities can be strengthened.
As long as nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons factories, nuclear power plants, radioactive waste dumps, and other potential sources of radiation exposure continue to exist, more hibakusha may emerge anytime, anywhere, on this planet. In a number of locations, including Iraq, scores of new hibakusha have already been produced by the use of depleted uranium munitions and their radioactive consequences. The role of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the field of radiation medicine will undoubtedly grow in importance in the future.
It's been quite some time since the Japanese government and political leaders began calling on the nation to make “international contributions.” Japan, which has claimed an identity as “the only A-bombed country,” must focus more energy on creating an international contribution to medicine--in this case, the field of radiation medicine--through such actions as alliances with the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and financial support for HICARE's efforts.
