AIDS in JAPAN -Basic Information and Coomunity Activities in Japan

HIV/AIDS and Migrant/Mobile population in the Japanese Society

This article does not necessary reflect all of the views in the communities

1. Current situation among Migrant people

It has been reported that 24.2% of the cumulative number of people living with AIDS in Japan were non-Japanese nationals. The rate has been declining as the overall number of the Japanese nationals with AIDS increases. However, it should be noted that those non-Japanese nationals with AIDS have little access to medical care because of the language barrier, financial difficulties and other social factors. Especially those who are overstaying their visas and not qualified to have health insurance, and/or who are from Asia and Africa face difficult circumstances. Most of them do not get emergency treatment until they develop serious opportunistic infections. People settled in Japan as laborers are mostly from Asia and Latin America, and, accordingly, a larger population with AIDS is found in such nationality groups than groups from African countries.

In the early 1990s, a large number of HIV positives are reported among women from Southeast Asia who seemed to be the trafficked to Japanese sex Industries. Back in those days, the social system to support those who suffered from human trafficking had not yet been established and in many cases, there was no interpreter to let them understand the diagnosis and doctors advices. The only wards they heard were "You are HIV positive and need to go back to your country." Therefore, hardly any of those women actually had proper counseling or treatment afterwards. Since those period, the number of non-Japanese nationals who are getting HIV antibody test has decreased. The main causes of the decrease could be the language barrier and high medical costs. Also the lack of voluntary HIV counseling and testing for non-Japanese speakers has made it difficult for them to get aftercare and support.

2. Who needs help?

Japanese medical institutes tend to be reluctant to treat non-Japanese people with HIV because majority of them are overstaying and have no medical insurance. Recent years, Japan has absorbed many foreign workers from Asia and Latin America. Yet the interpretation services have not been established in medical institutions and in most cases, HIV infection is still diagnosed without attendance of an interpreter.

3. Support for foreign people

Some Japanese Latin American self-help groups and support groups for Asian migrants have provided telephone consulting service and counseling, and accompanied people with HIV to the hospital. These efforts have improved access to the medical care among documented migrants, especially Japanese descendents and people who are married to Japanese.

4. Challenges

On the other hand, undocumented migrants still face a serious situation. Many nongovernmental organizations have worked on the medical institutions to guarantee the emergency treatment for opportunistic infections. In response, some municipalities in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Gunma have developed a system in which the municipality itself covers a part of the medical cost on behalf of any non-Japanese person who are appearently unable to make the payment. This system has prevented the medical institutions from rejecting to give necessary medical care. Still only a few municipalities operate the similar system and high death rate of AIDS among non-Japanese people still stays a serious issue in Japan.

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