ハンセン病

2008/6/17 --The Asahi Shimbun, June 16(IHT/Asahi: June 17,2008)

EDITORIAL: Law for leprosy patients

ハンセン病基本法―ひとりぼっちにしない

(leprosy=らい病、重い皮膚病)

The Diet has enacted a law aimed at eliminating discrimination and prejudice against leprosy patients and ensuring that former patients living in national facilities once used for forced quarantine can spend the rest of their lives in peace.

No other disease has been misunderstood for as long as leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease. Although effective medications for the disease became available soon after the end of World War II, the Japanese government in 1953 enacted the Leprosy Prevention Law and continued to force patients to live in isolation. The law was finally annulled only 12 years ago.

ハンセン病への差別や偏見をなくし、国立の療養所に暮らす人たちが安心して老後を過ごせるようにする。 

そうしたことを狙いとするハンセン病問題基本法が国会で成立した。 

ハンセン病ほど、長く誤解されてきた病気はない。戦後すぐに薬で治るようになったのに、国は１９５３年、らい予防法を制定し、強制隔離を続けた。この法律が廃止されたのは、わずか１２年前だ。 

(quarantine=隔離) (Annul=廃止する、効力を失わせる)

In 2001, the Kumamoto District Court ruled that the government's policy of forced isolation had become unconstitutional by 1960 at the latest. After the landmark ruling, the government admitted its responsibility for unnecessarily isolating leprosy patients from society and promised to ensure that all former patients will be able to live under conditions similar to those of regular society.

０１年に熊本地裁は、遅くとも１９６０年には強制隔離策が憲法違反だったという判決を言い渡した。政府は国としての責任を認め、最後の１人まで社会にいるのと同じような生活ができるようにするなどの約束をした。 

The new law was enacted in response to strong demand from residents of the state-run sanitariums following the ruling.

これを受けて、入所者らが強く求めていたのが今回の基本法である。 

(sanitarium=sanatorium=サナトリウム､療養所)

What is noteworthy about the legislation is a provision that makes the sanitariums and their premises available for use by outside people. It is designed to maintain the facilities over the long term while expanding exchanges between the former patients and local residents.

注目されるのは、療養所の設備や敷地を外部の人が利用できるようにする規定を盛り込んだことだ。療養所を地域に開くことで末永く維持し、住民との交流も深めようというのだ。 

Against the backdrop lies the harsh reality surrounding these facilities.

入所者らがそう考えた背景には、療養所をめぐる厳しい現実がある。 

The number of people living in the 13 state-run sanitariums for patients of Hansen's disease across the country has declined to about 2,700. At the peak, they housed more than 10,000.

全国に１３ある療養所には、ピーク時には１万人を超す人がいたが、今は約２７００人だ。

The average age of the residents is now 79.5, and about 200 of them die every year. The number of staff members at these facilities is also diminishing gradually.

平均年齢７９・５歳と高齢化し、毎年約２００人が亡くなっている。職員も徐々に減っている。 

It is hardly surprising that concerns have grown among the former patients about the maintenance of the facilities for health-care and nursing services--and about the future of the sanitariums.

医療や介護のための施設をこのまま守っていけるのか。療養所の将来はどうなるのか。そこで暮らす人たちの間で不安が募ったのも無理はない。 

(hardly=ほとんど～しない) （hardly surprise=全く驚くことにならない）

Despite their wishes, these people are finding it increasingly difficult to return to society after decades of isolation. The idea of opening the facilities to the outside world has been proposed as a remedy to the situation. It is an attempt to enable the residents to "re-enter society" without actually leaving the facilities.

社会復帰ができればよいが、高齢になった今、いっそうむずかしくなっている。そこで出てきたのが、社会の側に療養所に入ってきてもらおうという考えだ。いわば「いながらの社会復帰」を図ろうというのである。

Under the government's plan for carrying out the idea, the sanitariums will be used to provide treatment for outside patients and serve as welfare facilities for the elderly, hospices or research labs. Increased exchanges with outside society will certainly help eliminate prejudices about the disease.

これまでと違って、地域の人も診療を受けられるようにしたり、高齢者のための施設やホスピス、研究所として使ったりすることが考えられている。外部との交流は、偏見をなくすためにも役立つはずだ。 

（prejudice=discrimination=bias=偏見、差別、かたよったものの考え方、見かた）

The plan, however, needs to be implemented with the greatest care and caution. There are wide differences from one sanitarium to the next in terms of geographic conditions and relations with the local communities.

とはいえ、実行に移すには、きめ細かな目配りが必要になる。療養所ごとに立地条件や地域とのかかわり方は大きく異なる。

Opening all of these facilities to outside society in a uniform way could make some of the former patients uneasy. The government should proceed with the plan based on the wishes of the people living in the facilities and the situations of the local communities.

療養所をいきなり一律に開いていけば、不安に思う入所者もいるだろう。入所者の希望をもとに、地域の実情に合わせて進めていってもらいたい。 

The government is obliged to ensure that all those affected by a wrong policy will be able to live in the facilities without anxiety. But that alone will not be enough to prevent them from remaining segregated from society.

最後の１人まで療養所で安心して暮らせるようにするのは当然だ。しかし、それだけでは孤立した生活になりかねない。

(segregated=隔離された、分離された)

The entire society should try harder to avoid their isolation. To that end, greater efforts must be made to deepen understanding of Hansen's disease and remove prejudices against it.

「決してひとりぼっちにしない」ということを社会として心がけたい。それには、社会の側がハンセン病への理解をもっと深め、偏見をなくしていかなければならない。 

It is impossible to return the time lost during forced segregation. At the very least, we must provide necessary support to allow the former patients to spend their remaining years peacefully.

強制隔離で失われた時間は戻らない。せめてこれから、心穏やかな日々を過ごしてもらえるよう支えたい。 

(at the very least=せめて、最小限、少なくとも)

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 16(IHT/Asahi: June 17,2008)

朝日新聞 ６月１６日号 （英語版 ２００８年６月１７日発行）