2ND LD: Law enacted to set up fund for atomic bomb sufferers
Japan Policy & Politics, Dec 7, 2009
TOKYO, Dec. 1 Kyodo
(EDS: ADDING INFORMATION)
The Diet on Tuesday enacted a law aimed at extending blanket relief for people who have lost lawsuits against the government for their certification as sufferers of radiation-linked illnesses due to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The House of Representatives, or the lower house, unanimously passed the bill in the day’s plenary session with votes by members of all political parties, except the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party which has boycotted the session. The House of Councillors, or the upper house, has already passed it.
The law will come into force on April 1 next year.
Under the law, the government will establish a 300 million yen fund to extend financial assistance to those who have lost legal battles in court and cannot receive monthly medical allowances of about 140,000 yen (about $1,600). Currently, around 30 people are eligible to receive such relief.
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Akira Nagatsuma told a news conference Tuesday that he plans to attend regular meetings between government officials and former plaintiffs to discuss sweeping reforms to the government’s current scheme to recognize applicants as sufferers of radiation-linked illnesses.
Nagatsuma said he would listen to participants over a range of issues.
Terumi Tanaka, 77, secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, known simply as Nihon Hidankyo, told reporters that it was a long journey for atomic bomb sufferers, known as hibakusha, who have reached advanced ages and have suffered from various diseases.
In Hiroshima, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told a news conference Tuesday that he welcomes the enactment of the law which he said would extend a helping hand to those who have long been ignored.
The enactment came more than six years after the first suit was filed in 2003. The government had lost 19 straight lawsuits by August.
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