Many deaths and negative health effects could have been prevented
“Many of the deaths and negative health effects could have been prevented”
Administrative Sectionalism
Internal exposure and external exposure to radiation are technically two different things, but to those who are under threat of radiation exposure, there's no significant difference; they're on the receiving end of both. There's no distinction between "internal" or "external" when it comes to fears for one's well-being. Last week, the Food Safety Commission (FSC) submitted a recommendation to Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoko Komiyama suggesting a maximum 100-millisievert cumulative lifetime internal exposure to radiation through food.
Though the commission had initially incorporated both internal and external exposure in its calculations, it ultimately did an about-turn, merely addressing the risks from food -- its stated field of expertise -- in its final report. As for external exposure, the commission stated that "the issue should be dealt with by the appropriate agency." The public, however, is urgently seeking a yardstick by which to measure the overall risks that we face.
Japanese Administrative Sectionalism Precedents:
The Kanemi oil poisoning incident wreaked havoc in western Japan. The death of a massive number of fowl in the spring of 1968 had prompted an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry -- which oversaw poultry farming -- to investigate the factory where the deaths originated. The official, however, failed to look into the cooking oil that the same factory produced, and made no attempts to advise the Ministry of Health and Welfare -- which oversaw food products -- to pursue the matter. That fall, countless people fell ill through dioxin-contaminated cooking oil that had been produced at the very factory. Had the agriculture ministry official stuck their nose into the health ministry's "business" and worked together, it's likely that many of the deaths and negative health effects could have been prevented.
There's another case in Japan's past that makes the calls for swift measures in response to the current nuclear crisis all the more compelling. Minamata disease, considered one of Japan's first pollution-related epidemics, was "officially" discovered in 1956. Three and a half years later, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Food Poisoning Subcommittee released a report pointing to "some kind of organic mercurial compound" as the culprit. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), however, argued that it was "too soon to conclude that the chemicals came from the factory."
In 1968, when environmental and health problems across Japan were making headlines, Minamata disease was finally recognized as a pollution-caused illness. It was not until 1971 that it was determined that vertical sectionalism rampant at the time would not lead to a resolution and the Environment Agency was established, comprising officials from various government agencies and ministries. By then, over 15 years had passed since the disease was first identified.
By Kenji Tamaki, Expert Senior Writer (Mainichi Japan) November 4, 2011
English: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20111104p2a00m0na001000c.html
Japanese: http://mainichi.jp/select/opinion/ka-ron/news/20111101ddm003070056000c.html
