健康・医療Notice to Families of Former Leprosy Patients

• On November 15, 2019, the lawmaker-initiated Act on the Payment of Compensation to Families of Former Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) Patients (Law No.55 of 2019) was passed by the Japanese parliament. The Act was officially promulgated and came into force on November 22 of the same year.
• The preamble to the Act acknowledges that under the leprosy segregation policy, former leprosypatients’ family members suffered great distress and hardship over many years owing, among other things, to the difficulty of forming the types of familial relationships they desired with the patients in a context of prejudice and discrimination. It states that the significance of these problems was not acknowledged and measures were not taken in response, and expresses a profound apology and a desire to reflect seriously on these grievous truths in a spirit of contrition and remorse.
• In accordance with the Act, compensation will be paid to eligible family members of former leprosy patients.

See the leaflets in different languages ( English, Chinese and Korean)［1.9MB］

Eligibility for compensation is granted to living individuals(*1) related in any of the ways listed in (a) through (g) below with a person with a history of leprosy(*2) and history of residence in Japan(*3) up to March 31, 1996 (the date on which the Leprosy Prevention Act was abolished).
“Spouse” includes apartner of a de facto relationship.



(*1) Eligibility is granted to those who were in one of the relationships listed in (a) through (g) above with the person with the history of leprosy between the time said person contracted leprosy (if said person did not reside in Japan at the time they contracted leprosy: the time at which said person took up residence in Japan) and March 31, 1996 (if said person resides in Taiwan, Korea, or other region outside Japan and has never lived in Japan: August 15, 1945), and has a history of residence in Japan(*2) during the time said relationship existed.
(*2) Regardless of factors such as history of placement in a leprosy sanatorium or the date of recovery. However, for persons residing in Taiwan, Korea, and other regions outside Japan who have never lived in Japan, eligibility is limited to those who contracted leprosy up to August 15, 1945.
(*3) Includes Taiwan, Korea, and other regions outside Japan for the period up to August 15, 1945.
(*４) First-degree relatives by marriage include spouses of parents and children, and parents and children of spouses.
(*５) “Cohabitation” means sharing the same place of living in Japan between the date on which the person contracted leprosy and March 31, 1996 (if never resided in Japan: in Taiwan, Korea, or other region outside Japan up to August 15, 1945).
(*６) Second-degree relatives by marriage include spouses of grandparents, siblings, and grandchildren, and grandparents, siblings, and grandchildren of spouses.

• Please send a claim form by postal mail to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (compensation service desk shown below). The form must be written in Japanese only.
• The claim form is available for download from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website, or can be sent by postal mail on request.
• Claims must be lodged within five years of November 22, 2019 (the date the Act came into force), i.e., by November 21, 2024.
• For more details, please refer to the “Q&A on Compensation for Families of Former Leprosy Patients” (Japanese only) ［2.0MB］.

 

• In the claim form, please enter the date on which the former patient was diagnosed with leprosy or the period in which they resided in a leprosy sanatorium, the name and location of the sanatorium, and your relationship with the former patient, etc.
• Please attach the following documentation when submitting the claim form. (For items marked with a *, forms can be downloaded from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website.)

・Checklist of attached documentation *
・Documentation evidencing the claimant’s name, sex, date of birth, and address/place of residence, such as a copy of the claimant’s resident register certificate
・Documentation evidencing that a member of the claimant’s family has a history of leprosy anytime up to March 31, 1996
・Documentation evidencing fulfilment of the condition of residence within Japan or other places for both the claimant and the former leprosy patient
・Documentation evidencing that the claimant was a family relative of the former leprosy patient as stated in the claim form during the period specified in (*1) above
・If the claimant falls under (c), (e), (f), or (g) in 1. above: documentation evidencing that the claimant was in cohabitation with the former leprosy patient during the period specified in (*1) above
・Documentation clearly stating the name of the financial institution and account number the claimant wishes the compensation to be paid to (a copy of the passbook or cash card, etc.).
・Other documentation evidencing facts relevant to the claim (for example: certification of period of residence in a national leprosy sanatorium, official transcript of family register entries, statement by associated parties, etc.)
・Japanese translation of attached documentation (only if documentation is in a language other than Japanese)
 

Please submit claims and direct inquiries regarding the claims process to the following service desk in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Compensation Payment Office for Family of Former Leprosy Patients, Intractable/Rare Disease Control Division, Public Health Bureau).


Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Compensation Service Desk

Postal address:
Compensation Desk, Public Health Bureau
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
1-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8916 JAPAN

Email:
hoshoukin[at sign]mhlw.go.jp

Language: Japanese