Photo/Illutration Firefighters head to Kasumigaseki Station in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward to clean up remaining sarin nerve gas on March 20, 1995. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

To safeguard against bioterrorism attacks, the health ministry is looking 30 years into the past.

It plans to use 4 million yen ($26,200) secured from fiscal 2024's supplementary budget to digitize the medical records of victims of the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attack. 

This major archival project is the result of three years' worth of discussions that began in 2019 among a ministerial research team.

The team's focus was on the preservation of important documents to better prepare against bioterrorism attacks. 

Once the original paper medical records are scanned, the ministry plans to hold onto them. And, to supplement these files, it is also preparing to carry out interviews with the medical professionals, nurses and doctors who treated victims in the attack's aftermath. 

The internal research team has also suggested interviewing a wide range of people who were involved in the incident, such as firefighters and police.

Fourteen people died and more than 6,000 suffered minor to serious injuries after sarin gas was released on subway trains in Tokyo on March 20, 1995. 

According to the health ministry, there are currently about 1,000 medical records available. However, the mandatory retention period for records is five years.

Furthermore, there is a possibility records could be permanently lost if a medical institution were to shut down. 

Opening the archive as a resource for medical workers in the future is under consideration.

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