Though the Japanese government passed a law last year that would provide financial assistance to victims of asbestos-related diseases who are not covered by workers accident compensation, only 20% of those who’ve applied have received compensation, notes an article in the Daily Yomiuri.

Some say the strict requirements for eligibility, such as requiring applicants to submit medical documents and test results proving they have mesothelioma, has slowed the process, resulting in only a handful of the afflicted actually receiving aid.

Experts and asbestos-disease watchdog groups have called for an easing of the conditions, noting that the government promised “prompt and concrete relief measures.” The current situation does not conform to the new law, they add.

The Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency in Kawasaki, which accepts applications for the aid, said it had received 836 applications as of Feb. 28 from asbestos-related lung cancer sufferers and family members of those with the disease, but only 185 applicants were approved.

Those with the disease are entitled to receive aid such as medical allowances, while family members of victims are eligible to receive 3 million yen in condolence money.

The law restricts eligibility for financial aid to people who contracted asbestos-linked mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer while living near factories using asbestos. Mesothelioma victims need only submit a doctor’s certificate with their application. Asbestos-caused lung cancer victims, however, must go to greater lengths to prove that their disease was caused by asbestos and not other factors, such as smoking. That requires the submission of an x-ray and a sample of lung tissue.

In many cases, family members of those who died years ago are having difficulty obtaining the items they need to make application and collect compensation, experts say.

Yuji Natori, a doctor at Hirano Kameido Himawari Clinic, an expert in asbestos-related diseases, said the government should review the requirements for the aid as some types of asbestos are difficult to detect in a pathologic examination.

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