A/HRC/44/46/Add.1 10. Japan has ratified many of the international human rights treaties relevant to the protection of the rights of persons affected by Hansen’s disease and their family members, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 11. The domestic legal framework for the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the human rights of persons affected by Hansen’s disease and their family members in Japan is in line with the international human rights obligations of the country and reflects some of the principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. Of particular relevance are the Act on the payment of compensation to inmates of Hansen’s disease sanatoriums (2001); the Act on the promotion of a resolution of issues related to Hansen’s disease (2008) and the 2014 and 2019 amendments to that Act; and the Act on the payment of compensation to family members of former Hansen’s disease patients (2019). 12. The health system in Japan is based on universal health coverage through a public health insurance system. Citizens are enrolled in at least one of following schemes: the employment-based health insurance system, the residence-based national health insurance system, and the medical insurance system for those aged 75 and over. Together, the ageing population and the low birth rate pose a major challenge for the Japanese health-care system. With the entry into force of the 1982 Act on public aid for the elderly, a substantial part of the health-care costs for older persons became free of charge, the Act requiring that they pay small co-payments. 13. With regard to policies related to Hansen’s disease, Japan is endeavouring to put in place a multisectoral approach coordinated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides on its website an English version of the principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, and a summary in Japanese. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is implementing several strategies, such as organizing annual forums of persons affected by Hansen’s disease, their family members and Hanen’s disease experts, holding annual celebrations of the day to commemorate the victims of the leprosy prevention law and restore their honour, guaranteeing the availability of health care within the sanatoriums, running annual summer courses on Hansen’s disease, and taking steps to preserve the history of the disease with the opening of two national Hansen’s disease museums. The Ministry of Justice monitors cases of discrimination, distributes brochures to raise awareness of human rights and holds a national human rights essay contest for junior high school students. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is engaged in awareness-raising among schoolchildren and teachers on human rights issues related to Hansen’s disease. Ad hoc councils, usually convened to address matters that require a particular level of expertise or to gather a broad range of opinions, have been established to consult with persons affected by Hansen’s disease, their families and experts with regard to anti-discrimination measures, which is in line with guideline 14 of the principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to ensure that the consultations have a meaningful impact in terms of decision-making and policymaking and do not result in merely token consultation. IV. Progress A. Access to justice and bottom-up legal and policy change: the 2001 lawsuit 14. The Japanese policy on Hansen’s disease was first made into law in 1907, when Act No. 11 provided that homeless persons with Hansen’s disease were to be isolated in one of 4