Overseas hibakusha would no longer need to visit Japan for relief

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TOKYO, March 12 Kyodo -
Japan will eliminate next month the requirements for atomic bomb sufferers
living abroad to visit Japan to file for official designation as sufferers of
diseases linked to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, officials
said Friday.
At Friday's Cabinet meeting, the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
adopted a revised ordinance that would allow applicants living abroad to file
for designation at Japanese diplomatic establishments overseas.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says those certified by the
government as suffering from illnesses caused by exposure to radiation from the
bombings are eligible to receive a special medical allowance of 137,000 yen a
month.
On Friday, Hatoyama's Cabinet also made another decision that will allow
applicants living abroad to file for health check books at Japanese diplomatic
establishments overseas.
Those check books are given to people who were exposed to the so-called
radioactive black rain that fell immediately after the atomic bombings of the
two Japanese cities in August 1945. Holders of the check books are eligible to
undergo health checks similar to those offered to officially designated atomic
bomb sufferers.
Those measures will become effective on April 1, the officials said.
In December 2008, Japan revised the relief law for atomic bomb sufferers,
called hibakusha, enabling survivors living abroad to file their applications
for health books without visiting Japan.
Friday's decision will completely eliminate the requirements for overseas
hibakusha to visit Japan to file for any application involving their suffering
from the atomic bombings.
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in a statement that he welcomes the latest
government decision that would expand relief measures for overseas hibakusha,
who are now getting older and find it difficult to visit Japan.
==Kyodo