Cuban Americans, inspired by Orange Revolution, offer aid (01/08/06)

Cuban Americans, inspired by Orange Revolution, offer aid

KYIV - A delegation representing the Cuban-American community traveled to Ukraine on December 1-2, 2005, to meet with government officials and medical experts to offer their support for children stricken with cancer and other illnesses linked to the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. The delegation was headed by U.S. Undersecretary of State Dr. Paula Dobriansky and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Belart (R-Fla.), a prominent leader in the Cuban-American community whose family left Cuba when he was 3 years old following the Marxist revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Other leaders included Miami businesswoman and human rights activist Sylvia Iriondo, Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D., the chairman of pediatrics at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, and Dianne M. Kube, the chief administrative officer of the Community Oncology Alliance in Washington.

The delegation met with President Viktor Yushchenko and First Lady Kateryna Chumachenko Yushchenko at the offices of Mrs. Yushchenko's foundation, Ukraine 3000. They also attended an official briefing by Ambassador John E. Herbst and his staff at the United States Embassy in Kyiv.

Following the briefing, the delegates visited Kyiv's primary children's medical center, the so-called "Okhmatdyt," which is the leading hospital for the treatment of children's leukemia. There they met with the general director, Dr. Yurii Hladush, and the chairman of the pediatric hematology department, Dr. Svitlana Donska. Dr. Lipshultz and Dr. Kube discussed a variety of strategies for helping the hospital improve its recovery and remission rates for childhood leukemia, including the development of an effective bone marrow transplant program.

Some 300 Ukrainian children currently require bone marrow transplants each year, and very few are able to find appropriate donors or to travel outside the country for treatment. Dr. Donska expressed her hope that in the near future the Ukrainian government and private donors would be able to provide adequate funding to meet this need within Ukraine.

Dr. Lipshultz expressed admiration for Dr. Donska and her staff who have been able to improve their patients' survival rates and to develop effective treatment protocols despite shortages of medication and medical technology. In addition to the obvious need for more diagnostic equipment, he urged the Okhmatdyt and other Ukrainian cancer centers join with international cancer specialists in "cooperative working groups" that can share the latest advances and provide insights into particularly difficult challenges facing their patients. "Ukraine cannot remain isolated from the worldwide community of knowledge," he said.

Mrs. Yushchenko strongly endorsed Dr. Lipshultz's proposals and secured his commitment to provide training for Ukrainian doctors through his medical school.

During his visit to the oncology ward, Rep. Diaz-Belart distributed gifts of toys to the children in the ward and promised to bring the children to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., in the near future. He also pledged his support for the Hospital-to-Hospital Partnership program launched by Ukraine 3000 and praised the U.S.-based Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund (CCRDF) that has shipped over $53 million worth of medical technology and humanitarian aid to Ukrainian hospitals and orphanages.

Dr. Dobriansky also thanked the co-founders of CCRDF, Dr. Zenon and Nadia Matkiwsky for their pioneering role in bringing aid to Ukraine and for their advance work to facilitate the Cuban American delegation's trip to Kyiv. The U.S. State Department invited CCRDF to serve as a special consultant on the delegation's three-day tour of the Ukrainian capital.

Members of the delegation also visited the Amosov Cardiac Surgery Institute, the National Oncology Institute and the National Chornobyl Museum in the Podil District of Kyiv, where they heard extensive presentations on the continuing aftermath of the nuclear disaster.

In recent weeks, President Yushchenko has pledged a national commitment to combat AIDS, cancer and heart disease and to dramatically reduce infant mortality. "We are on the threshold of an epidemic and we must address our health crisis now," he told the U.S. delegation. The first lady and Ukraine 3000 have selected 24 children's hospitals that will be the first recipients of private funds and foundation grants to create model programs and overhaul health care management with the help of leading Western medical institutions.

In his meeting with President Yushchenko, Rep. Diaz-Belart recalled how inspired he was to hear the president's speech to the joint meeting of Congress during his first state visit to the U.S. last April. "That was one of the most inspiring moments in my life," said the congressman.

He also extended a special greeting to the Ukrainian President from Cuban political prisoners, including a leading physician who has been languishing in solitary confinement. "You have no idea how much the Orange Revolution has meant to my countrymen who dream of the day when true democracy and freedom will arrive for Cuba," he added.

Rep. Diaz-Belart and other members of the delegation promised they would not forget the plight of Chornobyl children and the crucial need for aid to the institutions they visited in Kyiv.

For more information on the Cuban American goodwill mission, readers may contact the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund at (973) 376-5140, or Ana Carbonell, chief of staff for Rep. Diaz-Balart at (202) 225-4211.

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