A Health Ministry panel on Friday called on people believed to be at risk of having been infected with the hepatitis virus to undergo tests, but recommended that the government not shoulder the cost of the screening.
The recommendations are part of a comprehensive government policy aimed at halting the spread of hepatitis in Japan.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry panel, chaired by Takashi Sugimura, president emeritus of the National Cancer Center, was asked to advise on a ministerial blueprint drawn up to contain the disease.