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Hiroshima doctors ask government to lend support to A-bomb survivors in North America

by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer

On October 19, a team of medical doctors who recently returned from North America held a press conference and reported on their work at the Hiroshima Medical Hall in Nishi Ward. They were dispatched by the Hiroshima prefectural government to provide medical checkups to A-bomb survivors living in North America. They explained that some of the aging survivors themselves have been serving as a liaison for their own checkups, and that these efforts should also be supported by the Japanese government and support groups in Japan.

In two groups, the doctors visited San Francisco, Los Angeles, and two other cities between September 10 and 29. Based on the results of examinations which the survivors received at local medical institutions beforehand, the doctors examined 287 survivors (including 78 second-generation survivors). This was 44 fewer than the previous checkups that were conducted two years ago.

Shuzo Toyota, the head of the team and vice president of the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, said, “Survivors have had difficulty communicating with their doctors in English even though they’ve lived there for many years. As the survivors are aging, they want to receive medical checkups more frequently than before.” He stressed the importance of continuing these visits by doctors from Japan and added, “The survivors managing these checkups are also aging. For future checkups, the cooperation of the consulate as well as systematic support from associations of people from the same prefecture is vital.”

The first visit by doctors to monitor the health of A-bomb survivors in North America took place in 1977, and since then has been pursued every two years. This year marked the 20th visit. According to the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, to date a total of 7,387 survivors have received examinations.

(Originally published on October 20, 2015)

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