水俣病認定指針 混乱の収拾につながるのか

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 10, 2014 Will new Minamata disease recognition criteria put an end to confusion? 水俣病認定指針　混乱の収拾につながるのか（3月10日付・読売社説） Confusion over official recognition of people as sufferers of Minamata disease still continues today. 　水俣病の認定問題は、今なお混乱が続く。 We hope the situation will improve, even if only a little, as the Environment Ministry has recently demonstrated a more flexible stance in recognizing victims. 　環境省が、柔軟な姿勢を見せたことで、事態が少しでも改善することを期待したい。 The ministry has notified the Kumamoto, Kagoshima and Niigata prefectural governments and the city government of Niigata—all in charge of officially recognizing Minamata disease sufferers—of its new criteria. The notice is to disseminate the possibility that under the new criteria, a person can be recognized as a mercury-poisoning victim through the single symptom of sensory impairment. 　環境省が、水俣病の認定業務を担っている熊本、鹿児島、新潟各県と新潟市に認定の指針を通知した。感覚障害のみの症状でも、認定することがあり得ると周知するのが目的だ。 Previous recognition of Minamata disease sufferers was based on standards set forth by the then Environment Agency in 1977. According to these standards, if there was no symptom other than a sensory disorder, “comprehensive examination” was required to recognize a victim. 　水俣病の認定は、１９７７年に環境庁（当時）が示した基準に基づき実施されてきた。認定基準は、感覚障害以外に症状がない場合には、「総合的な検討」を行って、判断するよう求めている。 Originally, there was leeway for a person to be recognized as a Minamata sufferer based on a sensory disorder alone. 　元々、感覚障害だけでも、水俣病と判断される余地があった。 In reality however, few were actually recognized as Minamata sufferers unless they were confirmed to be suffering from a combination of such symptoms as muscular coordination failure or visual field constriction, in addition to sensory impairment. 　しかし、実際の認定業務では、感覚障害に加え、運動失調や視野狭窄(きょうさく)など、複数の症状の組み合わせが確認されなければ、ほとんど水俣病と認定されなかった。 It can be said that with the new criteria, the ministry has called on these local governments to exercise more flexible judgment by returning to the original spirit of recognition standards. The ministry bears a grave responsibility for failing to act promptly enough in rectifying recognition procedures. 　今回の指針は、認定基準の趣旨に立ち返って、柔軟な判断を求めたものと言えよう。早期に認定業務の是正に動かなかった環境省の責任は重い。 Judiciary takes broader view Behind the ministry’s modification of the criteria is the fact that the judicial branch of the government has recognized victims more broadly than the administrative branch. 　環境省の指針の背景には、司法がより幅広く水俣病患者と認める判断を示している点がある。 In April last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a victim of the disease who had previously not been recognized could be identified as a sufferer, saying recognition “requires examination of a case from multifaceted, comprehensive viewpoints.” 　水俣病と認められなかった被害者について、最高裁は昨年４月、「多角的、総合的見地からの検討が求められる」との見解を示し、水俣病患者だと認めた。 The current confusion has stemmed primarily from the fact that the recognition examination is being conducted without clear parameters, with the judicial branch and the administrative branch of the government using different standards. 　行政と司法で認定のハードルの高さが異なる二重基準の状況が続いていることが、混乱の大きな要因である。 Recognition examinations are now suspended in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. About 750 people are still on the waiting list, which is problematic considering many of the disease victims are advanced in age. 　現在、熊本県などの認定業務は停止している。被害者の高齢化が進む中、約７５０人が認定審査を待っている事態は問題だ。 In future recognition examinations, victims need to be assessed from a broader perspective by accounting for the applicants’ histories, such as where they have lived and whether there was a Minamata disease victim in their family, rather than a rigidly uniform diagnosis system based on a mere combination of symptoms. 　今後の認定業務では、症状の組み合わせという画一的判断ではなく、認定申請者の居住歴や家庭内での患者の有無など、幅広い視点から水俣病かどうかを見極める姿勢が求められる。 The government at the time in 1995 made a political settlement concerning Minamata disease, formulating a relief measure that covered unrecognized victims. A law was enacted in 2009, offering financial relief to people who had yet to be recognized as Minamata disease sufferers. 　水俣病を巡っては、１９９５年、患者と認定されなかった被害者の政治決着が図られた。２００９年にも、救済の枠外だった人を対象にした被害者救済法が成立した。 Yet the lump-sum payments to those who had not been recognized were much smaller than the outlays to people who were recognized as victims. これらの一時金の額は、認定患者に比べ、大幅に少ない。 The ministry will not reconsider the results of victim recognition examinations made in the past. This is inevitable when taking into account the possibility that sending past relief measures back to square one would cause more confusion. Yet many of those victims may understandably harbor a sense of unfairness. 　環境省は過去の認定審査の結果については、見直さない方針だ。これまでの救済策を白紙に戻すことによる一層の混乱を考えれば、やむを得ない措置だが、不公平感を抱く被害者は多いだろう。 It is important that the ministry implement measures to support Minamata disease sufferers as much as possible in such areas as health care for the victims. 　被害者の健康管理など、環境省は、今後も可能な限りの支援策を実施していくことが重要だ。 (From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 10, 2014) （2014年3月10日00時55分 読売新聞）