Record 1,230 A-bomb victims hospitalized in FY 1998

Aug. 4, Kyodo - A record 1,230 atomic bomb victims were hospitalized at the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital in Nagasaki in fiscal 1998, an increase of 32 from fiscal 1997, according to an annual white paper on treatment released Wednesday by the hospital.

Among the victims hospitalized during the fiscal year, 368 people were admitted for cancer, 161 for brain and heart disorders such as myocardial infarction, and 125 for eye-related illnesses, the paper said.

In fiscal 1998, which ended March 31, 1999, 74 victims, known as ''hibakusha,'' died in the hospital, compared with 54 deaths the preceding year, the paper said.

Sixty died of cancer, accounting for 81.1 percent of the deaths.

The number of victims who visited the hospital as outpatients in fiscal 1998 decreased by 133 to 6,252, marking the 11th consecutive year of decline.

Kakaru Matsuo, vice director of the hospital, said, ''They (the victims) are getting older and an increasing number of hibakusha are dying of cancer. I guess the number of outpatients fell because the overall number of hibakusha decreased.''

The hospital began compiling data in 1958.

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