You're reading: EU to implement expensive project in Chornobyl Exclusion Zone to improve population’s health

Ivankiv – The European Union has launched a healthcare project for residents of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in the Town of Ivankiv in Kyiv region.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, a ceremony to mark the launch of the EUR 4 million project was held on Friday, attended by members of the European Parliament representing the Group of the Greens in the EP Michele Rivasi and Corinne Lepage.

The project foresees an investment of EUR 1.4 million in Ivankiv District Hospital to provide it with the equipment necessary for measuring the level of active materials and chemicals in the human body and in food, monitoring the level of radioactive pollution among the population, preventing diseases of mothers and children via the medical monitoring of pregnancy, and the creation of a consulting center to inform the population about healthy nutrition.

The abovementioned sum is a part of the total EUR 4 million investment, which includes aid to small farms, construction of greenhouses, creation of a plant for incineration of polluted wood in the exclusion zone, as well as further exploration of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the territory around it.

Head of Ivankiv District State Administration Oleksandr Leliak told journalists after the ceremony that the district is very close to the pollution epicenter and in connection with this the morbidity and death rate in Ivankiv District is much higher than on average in Ukraine.

“Every third new-born child in our district dies,” Leliak said.

He also noted that the participants of the project implementation headed for its launch for three years and thanked the MEPs for their assistance.

In turn, Rivasi noted that the implementation of the project is aimed at taking care of not only the technical part of the operations to cleanup the aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster, but also of people’s lives and health.

She added that Ukraine and other countries of the world would benefit from this project.

The MEP pointed at the fact that the international research center will open in Ivankiv, which will help the international community to understand what impact on people’s lives such disasters may have.

Rivasi added that the construction of a plant for incineration of polluted wood in the exclusion zone is a pilot project.

“The facility will be equipped with filters for harmful substances and it will also generate energy and heat for residents of this territory. It will be a pilot project. We have to take measurements at filter’s output so as to evaluate their effectiveness and a possibility of using them,” she said.

As reported, in 1991 through 2006 the EU allocated EUR 1.3 billion to nuclear safety projects in Russia and Ukraine.

The EU has also allocated more than EUR 500 million in aid and other initiatives.