Health chief Chikara Sakaguchi said Tuesday he and Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama have agreed to compensate former Hansen's disease patients who were not forced into sanitariums under the government's now-defunct quarantine policy.
Compensation will also go to the relatives of such Hansen's disease patients who died before a landmark lawsuit was filed over the policy.
The decision marks the end of a series of damages suits filed by former Hansen's disease patients and the families of deceased patients.