Applications for A-bomb disease certification can be filed from overseas from early next fiscal year
Jan. 13, 2010
by Kohei Okata, Staff Writer
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has set a policy permitting overseas agencies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Japanese embassies in the regions A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) reside, to begin accepting applications for A-bomb disease certification from survivors overseas in early fiscal 2010.
If hibakusha overseas who seek recognition as A-bomb disease sufferers submit the required documents, such as medical records made by doctors, to Japanese embassies or consulates, these documents will be presented to the MHLW by way of prefectures where the applicants lived immediately prior to leaving Japan. As soon as the necessary papers have been prepared, the MHLW will, under the same procedure for applicants in Japan, consult with the screening committee comprised of doctors and others, and determine if the applicants should be recognized as A-bomb disease sufferers.
According to the MHLW, roughly 4,300 hibakusha overseas in 35 nations, mainly in South Korea, the United States and Brazil, hold the Atomic Bomb Survivor's Certificate.
If recognized as an A-bomb disease sufferer, the government will provide the applicant with the Special Medical Allowance of about 137,000 yen per month. However, while medical expenses for A-bomb diseases sufferers residing in Japan are covered in full by the Japanese government, different relief measures have been adopted for the medical expenses of A-bomb disease sufferers abroad. On the grounds that medical and insurance systems differ by nation, these sufferers overseas will only be provided with health care subsidies to an upper limit of between 161,000 yen and 172,000 yen (the planned amount for the new fiscal year), which is no different from relief measures for hibakusha overseas who are not recognized as A-bomb disease sufferers.
Due to directive No. 402 issued in 1974 by the director general of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare, hibakusha overseas could not receive the Special Medical Allowance once they left Japan. The revised Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law, which took effect in December 2008, has enabled survivors to apply for and obtain the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate from overseas. An addendum to the revised law stipulates that "necessary measures will be taken" to enable hibakusha to apply for A-bomb disease certification from overseas.
The government has also been urged to make improvements in the provision of medical expenses, but the General Affairs Division of the Health Service Bureau at the MHLW explained, "We will again raise the upper limit of the subsidies for medical expenses for the new fiscal year and are ready to make the greatest possible efforts." Keisaburo Toyonaga, 73, director of the Hiroshima Branch of the Association of Citizens for the Support of South Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, appealed, "Hibakusha overseas are pressed even for medical and living expenses, and some have passed away after the revision of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law. We hope that relief measures similar to those for hibakusha in Japan will be realized for hibakusha overseas at the earliest possible date."
(Originally published on January 13, 2010)
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has set a policy permitting overseas agencies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Japanese embassies in the regions A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) reside, to begin accepting applications for A-bomb disease certification from survivors overseas in early fiscal 2010.
If hibakusha overseas who seek recognition as A-bomb disease sufferers submit the required documents, such as medical records made by doctors, to Japanese embassies or consulates, these documents will be presented to the MHLW by way of prefectures where the applicants lived immediately prior to leaving Japan. As soon as the necessary papers have been prepared, the MHLW will, under the same procedure for applicants in Japan, consult with the screening committee comprised of doctors and others, and determine if the applicants should be recognized as A-bomb disease sufferers.
According to the MHLW, roughly 4,300 hibakusha overseas in 35 nations, mainly in South Korea, the United States and Brazil, hold the Atomic Bomb Survivor's Certificate.
If recognized as an A-bomb disease sufferer, the government will provide the applicant with the Special Medical Allowance of about 137,000 yen per month. However, while medical expenses for A-bomb diseases sufferers residing in Japan are covered in full by the Japanese government, different relief measures have been adopted for the medical expenses of A-bomb disease sufferers abroad. On the grounds that medical and insurance systems differ by nation, these sufferers overseas will only be provided with health care subsidies to an upper limit of between 161,000 yen and 172,000 yen (the planned amount for the new fiscal year), which is no different from relief measures for hibakusha overseas who are not recognized as A-bomb disease sufferers.
Due to directive No. 402 issued in 1974 by the director general of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare, hibakusha overseas could not receive the Special Medical Allowance once they left Japan. The revised Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law, which took effect in December 2008, has enabled survivors to apply for and obtain the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate from overseas. An addendum to the revised law stipulates that "necessary measures will be taken" to enable hibakusha to apply for A-bomb disease certification from overseas.
The government has also been urged to make improvements in the provision of medical expenses, but the General Affairs Division of the Health Service Bureau at the MHLW explained, "We will again raise the upper limit of the subsidies for medical expenses for the new fiscal year and are ready to make the greatest possible efforts." Keisaburo Toyonaga, 73, director of the Hiroshima Branch of the Association of Citizens for the Support of South Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, appealed, "Hibakusha overseas are pressed even for medical and living expenses, and some have passed away after the revision of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law. We hope that relief measures similar to those for hibakusha in Japan will be realized for hibakusha overseas at the earliest possible date."
(Originally published on January 13, 2010)
