Medicine & Chernobyl (UK)

Medicine & Chernobyl (UK) is a charity organised by volunteer groups to help the people of Belarus after the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster. Following the accident in Chernobyl in April 1986, the Republic of Belarus, a former Soviet Republic, received 70% of the radioactive fallout caused by the explosion which created contamination 90 times greater than that at Hiroshima. More than 2 million people, including hundreds of thousands of children are still living in contaminated areas.

Economic depression and a shortage of food and medical supplies in Belarus make the situation even worse. The people of Belarus eat what they produce and most of the agricultural land is contaminated, so practically all the population of Belarus is exposed to radiation.

Since the disaster childhood cancer of the thyroid has increased dramatically; children also suffer from stomach disorders; many children have been born with genetic disorders as a consequence of the radiation suffered by their parents. In spite of the length of time since the disaster, the country is still contaminated by radioactivity and will so for hundreds of years. Whilst leukaemia has not yet been a major problem, the experience of the atomic bombs in Japan is that some cancers have a long incubation period and it is feared leukaemia and other disorders may begin to increase.