Government to discontinue medical subsidy for 90,000 incurable disease patients

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Government to discontinue medical subsidy for 90,000 incurable disease patients

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare is pushing ahead with a policy of discontinuing subsidies to medical services for more than 90,000 intractable disease patients from October 2007. This is the first time for the beneficiaries to be excluded from the program since it began in 1972.

On December 11, a ministry advisory panel decided to endorse the ministry's policy to cut subsidies for ulcerative colitis and Parkinson's disease patients who the ministry deems are not in serious condition, totally neglecting some members' dissenting opinions.

With the measure implemented, 66 percent of about 80,000 ulcerative colitis patients and 51 percent of about 73,000 Parkinson's disease patients will be removed from the program.

Patients and their families who had listened to the panel's discussion voiced their anger at its decision by saying, "You know nothing about our diseases!"

Japan Patients Association representative Itoh Tateo said, "Do not take the decisive first step toward wholesale cutbacks in measures for incurable disease patients!"

Japan Parkinson's Disease Association President Saito Hiroshi said, "The panel meeting was held to put an end to subsidies to ulcerative colitis and Parkinson's disease patients."

Fujiwara Masaru of the IBP (inflammatory bowel disease) Network consisting of ulcerative colitis patients' organizations said, "Practitioners who give treatment to our patients are unanimously critical of this policy change. Let us raise public opinion to call on the Diet to stop the policy change."
- Akahata, December 12, 2006