KIEV, (Itar-Tass via COMTEX)- According to the press release “Chernobyl, 15 Years On” issued by Ukraine�s Health Ministry on April 21, the health of those people affected by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster continues to deteriorate.
One finding that has particular significance for the fire service is that cleanup workers were found to have a higher incidence of oncologic disease (endocrine, nervous, blood, and digestion)�from 1.2 to 1.5 times more than other adults affected by the accident.
It was found that the number of healthy people among those evacuated from the contaminated area has dropped from 57.3 percent to 18.25 percent. The number of healthy people who live in the contaminated territories dropped from 50.7 percent to 16.21 percent. The number of healthy children among those affected by the disaster has decreased by 2.5 times since 1987.
This story appeared onhttp://www.individual.com, Apr. 23, 2001
