JCP urges welfare ministry to improve A-bomb illness recognition criteria

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JCP urges welfare ministry to improve A-bomb illness recognition criteria

Following the January 31 Nagoya District Court decision criticizing the government policy on A-bomb illness recognition, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira along with three other JCP Dietmembers on February 7 made representations to the welfare ministry, calling for drastically improving the criteria for recognition of Hibakusha diseases as A-bomb related.

Pointing to the recent Osaka, Hiroshima, and Nagoya district court rulings, Koike urged the ministry to withdraw its appeals to higher courts and to settle the issue once and for all.

Koike asked a ministry official whether the ministry is aware of the need to review the criteria, but the official only repeated the current government policy, revealing an unwillingness to do anything.

Referring to the Supreme Court decision on February 6 that ordered the Hiroshima Prefectural government to fully pay healthcare allowances to Hibakusha living in Brazil, Koike stressed the need to allow Hibakusha living overseas to apply for the Hibakusha certificate at Japanese diplomatic establishments abroad. Koike said, "No Hibakusha should be deprived of their rights on the grounds of national boundaries."
- Akahata, February 8, 2007