Health ministry panel adds 2 diseases to A-bomb illness list+

TOKYO, June 22 Kyodo -
A government panel decided Monday to add two diseases to the list used for
certifying sufferers of illnesses caused by radiation from the 1945 atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in line with a series of court rulings
against the state.
Following the decision, the government plans to compile by the Aug. 6 and 9
anniversaries of the U.S. bombings measures to settle a series of suits filed
jointly by sick ''hibakusha,'' or A-bomb survivors, seeking certification and
state benefits for their illnesses.
The panel of medical experts under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
added liver dysfunction, namely chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, plus
hypothyroidism to its list of diseases for recognizing hibakusha as suffering
from radiation-related illnesses.
People who are recognized as such by the panel, set up under the Atomic Bomb
Survivors Relief Law, are eligible for special medical allowances of 137,000
yen per month.
As criteria for the screening, the ministry has since April last year referred
to a list of five diseases as well as conditions such as that the applicant was
exposed to radiation within 3.5 kilometers of ground zero or approached the
hypocenter within 100 hours of the bombing.
Comprising cancer, leukemia, cataracts, hyperparathyroidism and heart
infarction, the list, however, has been criticized as courts nationwide have
since recognized plaintiffs rejected by the government as suffering from
radiation-induced illnesses.
The government decided not to appeal the two latest rulings by the Osaka and
Tokyo high courts in May.
In a decision marking the 18th straight loss for the government at both
district and high courts, the Tokyo High Court said May 28, ''The (current)
screening rules are inappropriate in certifying atomic bomb-related diseases.''
Following the ruling, a project team of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and
the New Komeito party recommended adding liver failure and underactive thyroid
function to the list.
After deciding not to appeal this ruling on June 9, Health, Labor and Welfare
Minister Yoichi Masuzoe expressed his willingness to review the criteria and
give relief to the plaintiffs in a meeting with representatives of the
nationwide suits.
Under the criteria that replaced the old certification formula in April last
year, 2,969 applicants were newly certified as suffering from radiation-linked
sickness in fiscal 2008, which ended in March this year, roughly 23 times the
total of 128 recognized in fiscal 2007.
A total of about 300 hibakusha across Japan have filed collective lawsuits
seeking certification at 17 district courts. Thirteen district courts and four
high courts had ruled in favor of the plaintiffs before the May 28 high court
ruling.
==Kyodo