The health and welfare ministry announced Dec. 6 that fiscal 2010 saw a record 16,668 cases of cruel treatment of elderly people by family members or other relatives, a rise of 6.7 percent from the previous year. The cruelty by nursing home workers resulted in 21 deaths, 11 fewer than in the previous year. The ministry's survey, based on reports from municipalities, does not include data from five municipalities in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures that were devastated by the March 11 disasters.
In fiscal 2010, municipalities across the nation received 25,315 notices or requests for consultations concerning suspected cruel treatment of elderly people by family members or other relatives — an increase of 8.2 percent from fiscal 2009 — and determined that 16,668 cases of cruel treatment had transpired.
There were also a record 96 cases of cruel treatment of the elderly by nursing home workers in fiscal 2010, an increase of 26.3 percent from the previous year.