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Release] Protest against the condemnation of the letter of the five former prime ministers

Protest Statement

Feb. 4, 2022

311 Children’s Thyroid Cancer Trial Lawyers: Kenichi Ido, Chief of the Defense Team, Hiroyuki Kawai, Vice-Chairman, Yuichi Kaiwata

Five former prime ministers who are truly concerned about the future of Japan (Junichiro Koizumi, Morihiro Hosokawa, Naoto Kan, Yukio Hatoyama, and Tomiichi Murayama) sent a letter to the President of the European Commission on January 27, 2022. In a letter dated January 27, 2022, five former prime ministers (Ichiro Koizumi, Morihiro Hosokawa, Naoto Kan, Yukio Hatoyama, and Tomiichi Murayama) wrote to the President of the European Commission entitled “Nuclear and Carbon Free: Excluding Nuclear Power from the EU Taxonomy is Possible. -In the letter, he talks about the current situation in Fukushima. In response to the passage in the letter that “many children are suffering from thyroid cancer”, Goshi Hosono, a member of the Diet, tweeted about the current situation in Fukushima, So Yamaguchi, Minister of the Environment, wrote a letter to five former prime ministers, Takaichi Takai, Chairman of the General Affairs Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party, expressed his protest, Uchibori, Governor of Fukushima Prefecture, made an appeal, and Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, responded to the Budget Committee. The LDP Fukushima prefectural federation has sent a letter of protest, and the government and the LDP have attacked and condemned each other. The reasons for this are that the above passage is “erroneous information” (Minister of Environment, Prime Minister Kishida), “erroneous content” (Chairman of the General Affairs Council Koichi), “contrary to scientific facts” (Hosono Rep.), “encourages unwarranted discrimination and prejudice” (Minister of Environment, Prime Minister Kishida), “brings anxiety to the youth of Fukushima” (Hosono Rep.), and “causes (Hosono), and “spreading rumors based on false information” (Takaichi, Chairman of the Board of Governors).

However, it is an undeniable fact that pediatric thyroid cancer, which was said to occur in only one or two children per million people per year before the Fukushima nuclear accident, has increased in Fukushima Prefecture in the 11 years since the accident, with 266 cases in the Fukushima Prefectural Health Survey and 27 cases in other surveys, for a total of at least 293 cases.

The above accusation by the Liberal Democratic Party may be an attempt to say that radiation exposure is not the cause of the high incidence of childhood thyroid cancer, but this is not a scientifically settled issue and their statement is “inaccurate information. The Fukushima Prefectural Citizens’ Health Study Review Committee and UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) deny the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship, it does not mean that these organizations have the authority to determine the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship. On the other hand, there are many experts who argue that a causal relationship should be recognized.

In this regard, the Ministry of the Environment seems to be based on the so-called over-diagnosis theory that the screening of the Fukushima Prefectural Health Survey only finds a large number of latent cancers that do not progress even if left untreated, but the over-diagnosis theory is not a proven theory. However, the over-diagnosis theory is not a proven theory. On the contrary, the scheme of the Fukushima Prefectural Health Survey was carefully designed to avoid over-diagnosis and over-treatment while fully recognizing the existence of latent cancers among thyroid cancers. When a cancer is found, it is not removed in a hasty manner. Rather, the progress of the cancer is assessed and its invasion into the surrounding tissues and metastasis to the surrounding lymph nodes are carefully investigated, and surgery is performed only in cases that meet the indications for surgery stipulated in the thyroid treatment guidelines. The thyroid surgeon who performed the removal of pediatric thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture has clearly denied that he overdiagnosed the disease.

Pediatric thyroid cancer is said to progress more rapidly than thyroid cancer in adults. Although Fukushima Prefecture has not disclosed the total number of cases, it appears that a significant number of children have had recurrences after surgery. Of the six pediatric thyroid cancer patients who filed a claim for damages against TEPCO on January 27, four of them had their cancers recur after surgery. Is the Ministry of the Environment saying that these cases are also overdiagnosed?

All of the children in Fukushima Prefecture were exposed to a certain amount of radiation. It is natural for children who suffer from extremely rare diseases caused by exposure to radiation to suspect that exposure is the cause. According to a survey conducted by the NPO 3.11 Thyroid Cancer Children’s Fund, the number of children and adolescents suffering from thyroid cancer has been increasing. According to a survey conducted by the NPO 3.11 Children’s Fund for Thyroid Cancer, about 60% of children and their families affected by thyroid cancer believe that the cause of the disease is exposure to radiation. However, lawsuits claiming compensation for damages by pediatric thyroid cancer patients have only just been filed. One of the plaintiffs stated at the press conference for the lawsuit that he could not even tell that he had thyroid cancer. I strongly fear that this series of bashing will make it harder than ever for pediatric thyroid cancer patients and their families to speak out about their feelings and questions. They should be aware that their comments are the ones that “promote discrimination and prejudice” and cause secondary damage to the young people and their families in Fukushima.

What the government and the administration should do is to conduct a thorough investigation into whether or not the high incidence of thyroid cancer in children is caused by exposure to radiation, make the data public, have open discussions with the public, and if a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be denied, have TEPCO promptly compensate the victims. We also need to establish a permanent support system to relieve the suffering of the young people in Fukushima. Rather than suppressing the anxiety of pediatric thyroid cancer patients and their families and silencing them, the role of the government should be to eliminate any discrimination and prejudice that may be caused by the revelation of the facts.

The cause of the high incidence of pediatric thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture must continue to be investigated in order to reach a scientific conclusion. The lawsuit filed by patients against TEPCO has just started. The Lawyers Committee strongly protests against this series of unjustified bashing of the five former prime ministers by the government and the Liberal Democratic Party.

That is all.

Source: Support Network 311: Children with Thyroid Cancer

https://www.311support.net/post/%E6%8A%97-%E8%AD%B0-%E5%A3%B0-%E6%98%8E?fbclid=IwAR3vKaXto3gRyNByZmHyWRB59aNX7FMf7yIoXzkAryINdwAEPwrFDh2xSWA

February 4, 2022 Posted by dunrenard | Fuk 2022 | 5 Former PM Statement, Fukushima Radiation, Protest statement, Support Network 311, Thyroid Cancers | Leave a comment