EDITORIAL: Healing Chornobyl's wound (05/05/96)

EDITORIAL

Healing Chornobyl's wound

"Chornobyl is an intolerably painful and unhealed wound of the Ukrainian people, a symbol of the global disaster that knows no border... a long-standing and universal tragedy." - President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine, in his message on the 10th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Last week, Ukrainian communities, joined by their neighbors, as well as such institutions as the United Nations and the U.S. Congress, marked the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear accident. There were speeches, prayer services, vigils, concerts, exhibits, etc. - all in an effort to tell the world that Chornobyl's aftereffects will continue for decades to come. Now, when all is said and done, when all the sad statistics have been recited and studied, it's time to look at the individuals affected, the liquidators, the evacuees and, above all, the children.

In this issue of The Weekly, Dr. David Marples, author of three books on the Chornobyl disaster, notes that, "It is among children that the main medical impact of Chornobyl has been revealed." He notes that Prof. Dilwyn Williams, professor of histopathology at Cambridge University, recently commented on CBC Radio that, in his view, all children living in contaminated regions today (Belarus, Ukraine and Russia) are at high risk of contracting thyroid gland cancer.

Writing in The Nation on April 29, Harvey Wasserman, senior adviser to Greenpeace USA, also cited Dr. Williams' work. The British specialist, who is also president of the European Thyroid Association, predicts that thyroid cancer will strike 40 percent of the children downwind from Chornobyl who were less than a year old when exposed to radiation. "I have done some sums: on future cancer deaths, and "the answers terrify me," Prof. Williams told Mr. Wasserman.

And the incidence of thyroid cancer is just one measure of the deadly fallout.

Thus, the future appears to offer no respite from Chornobyl's tragic effects. With our anniversary events largely over, it is time to move on and help those who are suffering, to act to ease their pain.

How can we do this? By donating money, time and effort to the various organizations involved in Chornobyl relief. Whether that is the best known group, the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, or a lesser known effort, like the Ukrainian American Veterans' Adopt-a-Hospital Program, doesn't matter. And, don't forget groups the like the very powerful Ukrainian National Women's League of America and its UNWLA Chornobyl Fund, or the Ukrainian Fraternal Associa-tion's program to outfit a hospital in Pushcha Vodytsia, just outside of Kyiv, which treats children affected by Chornobyl. Then there is the Canadian Children of Chornobyl Fund and its affiliate, Help Us Help the Children. The choice is yours.

Let us not forget to help the suffering children of Chornobyl: all of Ukraine's children. We can help heal Ukraine's wound, and we can help its young generations secure a better tomorrow.

Or, as another president, Bill Clinton, said in his message on the occasion of the somber anniversary we are observing this year: "Let us renew our solemn pledge to promote healing, ensure prevention and offer hope."

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