Result of the Medical Data Examination for Acknowledgment of Designated Diseases under the Act on Asbestos Health Damage Relief

On November 17, 2009, the Minister of the Environment conducted a medical data examination for patients suffering from asbestos-related diseases in response to requests filed by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) based on the Act on Asbestos Health Damage Relief.

Based on the examination, 47 patients were determined to have contracted the designated diseases (42 with mesothelioma and 5 with lung cancer caused by asbestos) and 3 patients were also determined but died before the application for relief based on the law (2 with mesothelioma and 1 with lung cancer caused by asbestos). No person who died before the enforcement of this Act was determined to have contracted the designated diseases.

The Minister of the Environment will notify the ERCA of the results.

The cumulative total of those determined to have contracted the designated diseases as defined by the Act is 2,542 (2,034 with mesothelioma and 508 with lung cancer caused by asbestos), and the cumulative total of those who have determined to have contracted the designated diseases but died before the application for relief based on the law is 103 (82 with mesothelioma and 21 with lung cancer caused by asbestos). The cumulative total of those determined to have contracted the designated diseases by asbestos but died before the enforcement of this Act is 131 (4 with mesothelioma and 127 with lung cancer caused by asbestos).

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