More child thyroid checks needed

November 27, 2014

Experts call for more child thyroid checks

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141127_13.html

Nov. 27, 2014 - Updated 02:07 UTC+1

Experts say there is no evidence yet that cases of thyroid cancer in children around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant are a result of the 2011 nuclear accident.

They say health authorities need to perform more checks to determine if the accident led to an increase in the disease.

The expert panel set up by the Environment Ministry released an interim report on Wednesday.

The report says children in Fukushima Prefecture were likely exposed to lower levels of radiation than in the accident at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine in the 1980s.

It says health authorities should compare results from children near the Fukushima plant with medical data from children in safe areas to verify if the accident has caused an increase in thyroid cancer cases.