SFMS Welcomes the Hiroshima 19th Medical Team July 25, 2013 Local Events, SFMS Member Events hibakusha, SFMS, Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, St. Mary's Medical Center 0 Last Friday, SFMS hosted a reception to welcome the physicians of the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association. A team of physicians from the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association visits San Francisco every other year to conduct medical examination of local hibakusha —survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The SFMS has had a sister relationship with the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association since 1981 and provides the local affiliation necessary to conduct the medical examinations in San Francisco. The health examinations cover clinical examinations for internal diseases and surgical and gynecological physical examinations and consultations. Included in the examinations are the following: general hematology tests, urinalysis, biochemical testing such as liver function tests, diabetes screening, thyroid gland function testing, serum cholesterol as well as screenings for colorectal cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, and uterine cancer. Participating Japanese medical team members for the San Francisco examinations are: Kenichi Arita, MD, (Team Leader), HPMA board member; Shuzo Toyota, MD, Vice President of HPMA; Hiroyasu Yamada, MD, HPMA board member; Kazumochi Nakamoto, HPMA staff; and Kazuko Kamigochi, HPMA staff. The medical examinations were held at St. Mary’s Medical Center on July 20 and 21. This year marks the 36th anniversary since the Hiroshima Medical Prefectural Association has participated in these missions. Since 1977, the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association has sponsored official biennial medical missions for the benefit of American survivors living in the United States who, due to their exposure to radiation in the 1945 bombings, face continuing medical problems. The medical mission will dispatch two teams to conduct medical examinations, one visiting San Francisco and Seattle and the other Los Angeles and Hawaii. The mission is supported by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, A-Bomb Casualty Council of Hiroshima, Hiroshima prefectural and city offices and local medical organizations and representatives from the prefecture and city of Nagasaki. The St. Mary’s Medical Center with the Sister Mary Philippa Health Center has been involved with the biennial medical mission since 1995. Click here for the featured article in Nichi Bei, July 28, 2013. Comments are closed.
