Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

70
risk population - the nuclear cleanvq) workers and the families which were
evacuated from some of the most highly contaminated zones. Regrettably, there
has still been little progress made in studies of these critical populations.
We still
do not know the number of casualties among the 600,000 soldiers, miners, firemen
and construction workers - most of them in their 20s and 30s at the time of the
accident - heroic young men who risked their lives to contain the spread of
radiation. We still do not know the leukemia and cancer rates among the 1 1,000
Ukrainian children who were evacuated to Cuba for treatment.
And there are
several large clusters of Chomobyl evacuees living in the cities of Kharkiv and
Kyiv and smaller settlements surrounding Kiev and Minsk who would be easily
accessible and of prime interest for long-term health studies.
We are mystified as
to why more effort has not gone into studying their condition.
Regardless of the continuing debate over Chomobyl' s ultimate health
impact, ihe Children of Chomobyl Relief Fund has made a long-term commitment
to upgrade the quality of care for pediatric and adolescent patients in Ukraine.
Although we are proud of CCRF's role as the leading private voluntary
organization providing medical aid to Ukraine, we recognize that there are many
other groups which are also making vital contributions to the intemational relief
effort:
the Catholic Medical Mission Board, the Ukrainian Diabetes Project, the
Cincinatti-Kharkiv Sister Cities Program, the Ukrainian National Women's
League of America, the Thoughts of Faith program based in Milwaukee,
Tennessee's Share the Dream, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA to
name a few.
In Belarus, we have long admired the successes of such organizations
as Citihope and the Ramapo High School Children of Chomobyl campaign - truly
a model for caring schoolchildren everywhere.
Despite the progress we have made, our Board and our volunteers are
painfully aware of the grim realities we face in Ukraine, and we are humbled by