International Medical Cooperation for the Radiation Exposed Population (Hibakusha) in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan : A Challenge from Hiroshima, the City of the World's First Atomic Bombing 【Report】

The main objective of this report is to describe the activities of a non-governmental organization(NGO), the Hiroshima Semipalatinsk Project (hereafter the Hiro-Semi Project or the Project), that sup-ports medical aid to those who were exposed to radiation from the nuclear bomb tests in Kazakhstan.The Project has carried out medical cooperation activities five times and dispatched medical missions ofdoctors, nurses, and medical technicians four times. In this report, we attempt to show the purpose of the foundation of the Hiro-Semi Project. In addition, we show the final goal of the Project. We also reporton the medical activities of the Hiro-Semi Project and touch upon the medical items provided by theHiro-Semi Project and the medical examinations from the medical missions sent by the Project. As isgenerally known, medical cooperation is an important part of international cooperation. For example,the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres Japonand The Association of Medical Doctors of Asia arewell known. It is possible for those who are not medical doctors to conduct medical cooperation. In fact,the Hiro-Semi Project plans and conducts medical aid and dispatches medical missions. The mostimportant matter is to establish a strong cooperative relationship with specialists or experts in that field.The Hiro-Semi Project endeavors to establish such a relationship. As people concerned with internation-al cooperation, we should pay more attention to the activities of medical cooperation done by grass rootsmovements, keeping in mind that there are many approaches to international cooperation. This reportwill outline one approach and one possibility of international cooperation.