Chernobyl - 35th Anniversary of the World Catastrophe
Dear and respected veterans,
Dear liquidators and residents of the legendary and unique city of Slavutych,
Since 1999, we have been invited to take part in the city's events dedicated to the Chernobyl days to commemorate the tragedy that happened on April 26, 1986 near the city of Pripyat.
However, for more than 10 years no one has invited us, but it is our pure wish to come and visit with our partners from different countries and friends.
We are glad that we continue to be supported by like-minded people and partners. The SOCMED program, within which we have been working for more than 23 years, is supported by the Green Cross Switzerland not only through coordination, but also financially. Thanks to the Green Cross Switzerland, every third child in Slavutych had the free opportunity to improve their health in Transcarpathia. The "Mother and Child" club continues to work and develop.
Also starting from this year we plan to work in new directions and launch a solar energy project. Development of new directions and support of the Green Cross in Ukraine is possible with the help and personal coordination of Martin Bäumle – Executive Director of the Green Cross Switzerland. Martin Bäumle is convinced that the future belongs to green energy. With these words, he addressed the residents of the city of Slavutych: "Technogenic disasters cannot and should not take the lives of thousands of people, and in the history of mankind there should not be such disasters as the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and at Fukushima."
As a result of the Chernobyl accident, more than 200 thousand square kilometres were exposed to radioactive contamination, of which the territories of 17 European countries with a total area of 207.5 thousand square kilometers, the territory of Ukraine (37.63 thousand square kilometers), Belarus (43.5 thousand square kilometers), the European part of Russia (59.3 thousand square kilometers).
Immediately after the disaster, 31 people died, and 500 thousand liquidators, who took part in extinguishing the fires and clearing, received high doses of radiation. In 1986 as a response measure, 115,000 people were evacuated from 188 settlements in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the station. On April 27, the city of Pripyat was evacuated (47 thousand 500 people).
Almost 8.4 million residents of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia became victims of the radioactive release, of which almost 404 thousand people were resettled. For three decades after the accident, directly or indirectly around 200 thousand people died because of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. At the moment, a total of about 2.3 million people live in the contaminated zones.
As a result of the Chernobyl accident, more than 2 million people have the status of victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, of which 442,343 are children (24.5%) and more than 200 thousand people who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident. The population living in the 3-4 Chernobyl zone (zone of guaranteed voluntary resettlement and enhanced radioecological control), until this time is exposed to the effects of the accident, which negatively affect:
- health of families and children (external and internal exposure, stress, an increase in morbidity and mortality among the population);
- socio-economic status;
- the psychological state;
- the economic condition and well-being of the territories;
- the ecological state of the country (radiation pollution, atmospheric pollution, soil and water pollution).
To date, more than 1.5 million children were born from people affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Research shows that their health is worse than that of children living in unpolluted areas. Chernobyl children have low immunity, a tendency to develop pathological processes, instability of the genetic apparatus, vegetative-vascular dystonia, functional insufficiency of the thyroid gland, diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, musculoskeletal system, endocrine system, and respiratory organs.
To eliminate the negative impact of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, topical measures remain:
- health improvement and rehabilitation of the child population;
- disease prevention and health promotion measures;
- medical examination of the population and provision of timely assistance and advice;
- social and psychological rehabilitation;
- information work on the Chernobyl topic (various actions, events, publications, scientific work);
- improvement of the socio-economic condition of the affected population living in the territories that belong to the 3-4 Chernobyl zones;
- international cooperation and implementation of joint projects;
- socio-economic development of the affected areas.
We plan to continue to provide assistance to the needy categories of the population who live in the territories that were considered and remain the Chernobyl territories.
Children are the future.
We cannot ignore the past if we want to move into the future, and we and our children must remember the feat that was accomplished in those terrible and tragic April days.
Yours faithfully,
Yuriy Sapiga
Founder, Chairman of the Board GCU
