Talks between the government and a group of hepatitis B sufferers or their bereaved families, who had filed lawsuits for state compensation at 10 district courts in and after March 2008, have begun to move forward.

Following the government's April 22 decision to accept revised recommendations by the Sapporo District Court for a settlement, an association of 727 plaintiffs decided May 2 to accept them.

Hepatitis B was mainly caused by mass vaccinations that began in 1948 under the Preventive Vaccination Law. The health ministry estimates that up to 440,000 people were infected through shared needles and are eligible for relief measures.