Average age of A-bomb survivors continues to climb
Jul. 2, 2016
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
It was learned on July 1 that, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on A-bomb survivors, the average age of the survivors who hold the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate has risen to 80.86 as of the end of March 2016. The average age has climbed by 0.73 years since last year. Seventy-one years after the atomic bombings of Japan, the survivors inexorably grow older.
The average age was calculated based on data involving holders of the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate which is managed by 47 prefectures and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The number of holders of the certificate is now 174,080, a decrease of 9,439 from the previous year. This number is less than half the figure at the end of March 1981, when a record 372,264 people held the certificate.
Among local municipalities, the city of Hiroshima has the largest number of A-bomb survivors at 56,174, a decrease of 2,759 from the year before. However, the average age of these survivors is now 80.23, an increase of 0.65 years from 79.58 last year. This marks the first time that the average age of A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima City has exceeded 80. Another 22,818 survivors are registered with the Hiroshima prefectural government, down by 1,616. But their average age has now reached 82.69, a rise of 0.59 years.
A-bomb survivors nationwide are provided with various kinds of benefits by the Japanese government: health care benefits (about 34,000 yen per month) for survivors who have developed certain types of specified diseases are being provided for 145,740 people, down 8,915 from last year; special medical benefits (139,000 yen per month) for survivors who are certified as sufferers of A-bomb related diseases are being provided for 8,511 people, down 238; and special benefits (51,000 yen per month) for survivors who are certified as having recovered from A-bomb related diseases are being provided for 1,622 people, an increase of 238.
(Originally published on July 2, 2016)
It was learned on July 1 that, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on A-bomb survivors, the average age of the survivors who hold the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate has risen to 80.86 as of the end of March 2016. The average age has climbed by 0.73 years since last year. Seventy-one years after the atomic bombings of Japan, the survivors inexorably grow older.
The average age was calculated based on data involving holders of the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate which is managed by 47 prefectures and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The number of holders of the certificate is now 174,080, a decrease of 9,439 from the previous year. This number is less than half the figure at the end of March 1981, when a record 372,264 people held the certificate.
Among local municipalities, the city of Hiroshima has the largest number of A-bomb survivors at 56,174, a decrease of 2,759 from the year before. However, the average age of these survivors is now 80.23, an increase of 0.65 years from 79.58 last year. This marks the first time that the average age of A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima City has exceeded 80. Another 22,818 survivors are registered with the Hiroshima prefectural government, down by 1,616. But their average age has now reached 82.69, a rise of 0.59 years.
A-bomb survivors nationwide are provided with various kinds of benefits by the Japanese government: health care benefits (about 34,000 yen per month) for survivors who have developed certain types of specified diseases are being provided for 145,740 people, down 8,915 from last year; special medical benefits (139,000 yen per month) for survivors who are certified as sufferers of A-bomb related diseases are being provided for 8,511 people, down 238; and special benefits (51,000 yen per month) for survivors who are certified as having recovered from A-bomb related diseases are being provided for 1,622 people, an increase of 238.
(Originally published on July 2, 2016)
