Second-generation A-bomb survivors hold meeting, determine outline of next health survey
Jul. 10, 2014
The committee of second-generation survivors within the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo), chaired by Sunao Tsuboi, held a regular general meeting in Naka Ward on June 5 and determined the outline of an upcoming health survey that will be geared to second-generation survivors of the atomic bombing. The survey will ask for detailed information about how their parents were exposed to the atomic bombing and explore the health effects on their children. The results of the survey will be summarized by March of next year, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, and used to request that the national government provide appropriate assistance.
The contents of the survey include the distance from the hypocenter to the spot where their parents were located at the time of the bombing; the medical history of the second-generation survivors; the health conditions of their siblings; and other items. The committee will begin distributing the survey form not only to its membership, but to others as well by handing the form from parents to children through local chapters of the Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo. The committee will collect the responses by December and ask Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus at Hiroshima University and an expert in the medical care of A-bomb survivors, to analyze the results.
The committee of second-generation survivors is asking the national, prefectural, and municipal governments to add cancer screening tests in the health examinations. A health survey was conducted in fiscal 2011, too, but less than 1,000 people responded. This time, the committee will include additional questions and seek to receive from 3,000 to 5,000 replies.
On the day of the meeting, the secretariat of the committee called on the participants to accumulate data and lead a nationwide movement of second-generation survivors from the A-bombed city of Hiroshima. The secretariat has already proposed that the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations carry out a nationwide survey. The participants of the meeting also confirmed that they will strengthen their efforts to keep the memories of the A-bomb experiences alive.
(Originally published on July 6, 2014)
The contents of the survey include the distance from the hypocenter to the spot where their parents were located at the time of the bombing; the medical history of the second-generation survivors; the health conditions of their siblings; and other items. The committee will begin distributing the survey form not only to its membership, but to others as well by handing the form from parents to children through local chapters of the Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo. The committee will collect the responses by December and ask Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus at Hiroshima University and an expert in the medical care of A-bomb survivors, to analyze the results.
The committee of second-generation survivors is asking the national, prefectural, and municipal governments to add cancer screening tests in the health examinations. A health survey was conducted in fiscal 2011, too, but less than 1,000 people responded. This time, the committee will include additional questions and seek to receive from 3,000 to 5,000 replies.
On the day of the meeting, the secretariat of the committee called on the participants to accumulate data and lead a nationwide movement of second-generation survivors from the A-bombed city of Hiroshima. The secretariat has already proposed that the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations carry out a nationwide survey. The participants of the meeting also confirmed that they will strengthen their efforts to keep the memories of the A-bomb experiences alive.
(Originally published on July 6, 2014)
