A new law offering relief to Minamata disease patients cleared the Lower House Friday, a day after the ruling and opposition camps officially agreed to loosen the eligibility requirements for patients seeking compensation.

The bill broadens the scope for the first time since 1995, when the government decided to compensate over 10,000 formerly unacknowledged patients. It will now be sent to the Upper House to be officially enacted as early as next week.

The legislation, one of the key bills Prime Minister Taro Aso hopes to get passed during the current Diet session, will offer compensation to patients with numbness in the hands and feet, or other sensory impairments of the body, mouth and tongue, as well as restricted vision.