"The Establishment of the "Japan Hemophilia Fraternal Association" and its Successful Effort to Acquire Public Health Coverage for Medical Treatment"
KITAMURA Kentaro
last update: 20151224
The Establishment of the "Japan Hemophilia Fraternal Association" and its Successful Effort to Acquire Public Health Coverage for Medical Treatment
KITAMURA Kentaro
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to describe, as an example of the patients?f rights movement, the establishment
of the "Japan Hemophilia Fraternal Association" (ZENYU) and its successful effort to acquire public health
coverage for medical treatment for hemophilia. It examines the detailes of the social situation of hemophiliacs
at the establishment of ZENYU in 1967, and it shows the process that let to the approval in 1974 of the
"Treatment and Research for Specified Children's Chronic Diseases" system for supporting public health
coverage of the medical treatment of hemophilia.
The dramatic change in hemophilia treatment that occurred after the discovery of "cryoprecipitate" in 1965, it
motivated hemophiliacs to form local advocacy groups which then joined together nationally as ZENYU.
Approaches to diseases to which treatment methods had not been established came to be requested strongly
starting with health damage from pollution from about the 1960's. We can see that the major change in
hemophilia treatment happened almost simultaneously with the movement to treat intractable diseases.
Reflecting on these events, hehophiliacs and their family members must therefore now take actions to oppose
the current argument for medical treatment expense control.
Keywords: Japan Hemophilia Fraternal Association, Patients' rights movement, Public health coverage of medical treatment, 1960's to 1970's
REV: 20151224