Former Hansen's patients and government reach settlement

The government has fully accepted a local court decision to settle the Hansen disease suit and reached an agreement with former leprosy patients (and their families) who did not enter designated sanatoriums.

The government finally agreed to apologize for its legal responsibility in the case, and to pay compensation for damages in an agreement on January 28.

The agreement took place based on the May 2001 Kumamoto District Court ruling which called on the government to compensate families of former leprosy patients. An out-of-court settlement is expected to be finalized on January 30 at the district court.

This agreement will help establish a final settlement of the century-long suffering of (former) leprosy patients who had been socially isolated under the government policy.

Appreciating the agreement, Kunimoto Mamoru, secretary general of the National council of plaintiffs' group of leprosy patients, said that the public movement and voices in support of their movement helped in exposing the government's negative stance toward eliminating the social discrimination. (end)