CFCC Scrapbook (LS)

Canadian Friends of
Chernobyl's Children
39 William Street, Elmira, Ontario N3B 1P3 cfcc@golden.net

Medical Supplies Go to Belarus
by Lynn Scott, CFCC Newsletter

This past Christmas three local women went to Belarus to take much needed medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and equipment to hospitals there. Pam Ellens and Linda Arbuckle traveled to the Brest Region while Lynn Scott traveled to the Mogilev Region. All three of these women are members of groups that host children from Belarus for medical respite in the summer. As other group members have also done recently, they decided that the need for addition medical aid was so great that they took it upon themselves to deliver some of the desperately needed supplies.

Pam Ellens, the Executive Director of the West Lincoln Hospital Foundation, solicited donations from colleagues and associates. She and Linda then took the $12,000 US dollars worth of pharmaceuticals and 15 suitcases of medical supplies to, among others, the Drogychin Regional Medical Centre for disbursement. The Drogychin Regional Medical Centre is comprised of 530 beds distributed amongst 5 hospitals. This severely under-funded medical centre has a total operating budget of 1.5 million – a sum which includes all medical staff salaries, operating costs and supplies. In comparison, the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital where Ellens is employed, is a 60 bed facility with an operating budget of 17 million dollars excluding medical staff salaries and fees.

Pam Ellens at the Drogychin Regional Health Center

The hospital in Chausy received $1000 dollars worth of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals most of which Lynn Scott and her husband Brad collected from co-workers, friends and their church. These supplies were given to pediatrician, Dr. Angela Vladamirovna, at the hospital in Chausy. Vladamirovna explained that at that time there was no Tylenol to be had in the Chausy area and the hospital was resorting to giving children aspirin. This is a poor second choice as the aspirin irritates the stomachs of the children, many of whom are already suffering from stomach ailments caused by their constant exposure to radiation.

All three women noted that the hospitals are lacking in equipment, medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. Patients or their family members are frequently responsible for providing medication and supplies that the hospital does not have available. If the medication and supplies can be located, they are often too costly for patients to afford. Hospitalized orphaned and abandoned children go without diapers because they have no family members to supply them.

In the sixteen years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Belarus has seen a 70% increase in thyroid cancer. To date, 2,000 children have been diagnosed with this form of cancer and another 8,000 are expected in the upcoming years. The Belarussian people are also victim to an increase in stomach disorders due to the consumption of food grown in radioactive soil. There is a marked increase in birth defects and other reproductive disorders. More serious cancers such as leukemia are on the rise. These serious health problems place a tremendous burden on the already under-funded Belarussian hospitals. This is why members of groups such as Canadian Friends of Chernobyl’s Children and The Rotary Clubs of District 7090 are delivering medical aide to hospitals in various regions within Belarus. This is also why the children who come for medical respite are sent home with packages of medical supplies. The simple items we all have in our medicine cabinets and take for granted such as: Tylenol, cough syrup, vitamins, band-aids and first aid cream are simply not available in their home towns and villages.