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Ministry seeks fourfold boost in disease research The Yomiuri Shimbun Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe wants a fourfold budget increase for research on cures for intractable diseases, he said Saturday. "We seek to raise the budget to about 10 billion yen in the next fiscal year if possible," Masuzoe said during a lecture in Kitakyushu. The current fiscal year's budget for such research is 2.44 billion yen. The ministry plans to include the expense raise in budget requests for the coming fiscal year. Currently, 123 kinds of diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and Parkinson's Disease, are designated as target diseases for the research. The ministry plans to expand the number of target diseases with the increased budget. (Jun. 23, 2008) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn