More than 50 years after the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a string of court losses has forced Japan’s government to create a new standard that will recognize 20,000 new victims of diseases and health problems related to the blasts.
The Kyodo news wire notes that nine kinds of diseases, including cancer and leukemia, will be recognized among the 250,000 registered bomb survivors in Japan. Under current standards, roughly 2,200 are recognized as victims.
The new standards will open the door for anyone who was within four kilometers of the blasts, or visited ground zero within 100 hours of the attacks.
Source:
“New standard aims to certify more people as A-bomb disease sufferers”
Kyodo/Associated Press, November 27, 2007