Vol. 79/No. 26      July 27, 2015

We, members of the All-Ukrainian Scientific-Practical Conference “Children of Tarará — Children of Ukraine!” that took place the 16th of May, 2015, in the National Scientific Section of Radiology Medicine AMN of Ukraine, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the launching of the Ukrainian-Cuban Program “Children of Chernobyl!” — medical help for children that suffered from the Chernobyl catastrophe — express to you our high respect and address you in the names of the 24,000 children whose illnesses we were not able to cure in Ukraine and who were able to receive the necessary medical treatment in the hospitals and medical centers of Havana and Tarará in the Republic of Cuba, at the expense of Cuba and with the support of Ukraine. It is a pity that in 2012 our cooperation in this program was stopped.

From 1990, when the “Children of Chernobyl!” program was begun, there were 197 surgeries in Cuba, 389 children with very difficult blood illnesses were treated, two successful kidney operations, and six operations to transplant spinal fluid. 14,160 children with hematological illness were treated, 13,824 with endocrinological illnesses, 8,376 otological illnesses, and 7,396 dermatological illnesses. Among the last category, for example, vitiligo (loss of pigment) and alopecia (loss of hair on the scalp) are possible to cure only in Cuba. According to the state budget of Cuba, over the life of the program more than $350,000,000 was allocated to this program. Over the same period, Ukraine spent 23,000,000 hryvnias.

During 2012-13, meetings took place between the governments of Ukraine and Cuba, at the level of the Ministries of Health of both countries, with the aim of continuing the common program for treatment of Ukrainian children in Cuba. There was no doubt on either side of the necessity for the program. However, it remains suspended today. The negative effects of radiation from the Chernobyl catastrophe are a threat to future generations in Ukraine, a threat that is increasing.

Contemporary medical research on the health of Ukrainian children shows that the number who are healthy is in decline — 24.1 percent were healthy in 1992 and just 4.8 percent in 2012. There has been an increase in the number of children with chronic illness (from 21.1 percent in 1992 to 79.6 percent in 2012). This is a result, primarily, of the effects of Chernobyl, which led to the weakening of the immunological system of children designed to defend them from adverse environmental conditions; functional abnormalities of the basic life-support system of children’s bodies; and susceptibility to developing chronic somatic diseases that increase the risk of birth defects and cancers. We see hereditary diseases occurring among the children of participants in the Tarará program who had themselves been cured as children in Cuba. Today their children need treatment.

There are among the members of this Conference those who suffered serious illness, received treatment in Cuba and got relief. But in the three years since the suspension of the program their health has deteriorated. Some of those not able to complete their treatment in Cuba were not able to survive and participate in this conference.

Dear Mr. President! We ask you to do everything possible to reach an agreement between Ukraine and Cuba in order to restart the program to treat Ukrainian children that suffer effects from the Chernobyl catastrophe. We believe that you can answer the hopes of hundreds of our children. They are the future of Ukraine.
 
 
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