A Family Health Center Opens in Chernobyl Contaminated Areas Attracts Public Attention

The “Dialogue” center head, Ms. Raisa Misiura, Deputy Chief Doctor of Stolin District Hospital, receives UNDP sponsored publications on safe living practices in contaminated areas Stolin - January 17, 2008. A consultative and information center Dialogue was opened in Stolin, Brest Region of Belarus, in the framework of "Family Health" project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with USAID/Belarus.  The center will inform the local community of the potential dangers associated with living in radiation-contaminated areas to their reproductive health, and possible safe behavior patterns.  Dialogue will provide individual consultations to pregnant women, nursing mothers, other women of reproductive age, as well as future and actual fathers.  It will focus on promoting basics of radioecological safety essential for reproductive health.  “It is very important to bring relevant knowledge to women in rural areas,” pointed out Ms.  Viktoriya Drobyshevskaya, Project Manager. Representatives of local administration, Brest Branch of the Institute of Radiology, medical education institutions attended the center opening, which was warmly welcomed by the local youth.  The event also had a wide coverage in Belarusian mass-media including TV, newspapers and news Websites.   "Family Health" is a USAID-funded two-year project that will be implemented in the nine localities of Stolin district, Brest region, to change behaviors of its population towards radiation-safe lifestyle.  It seeks to improve knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals dealing with reproductive health, develop a system of radioecological education for the target population and provide a framework for teaching radioecology in medical education institutions.  Stolin district was chosen due to the combination of a high birth rate, by national standards, and a high degree of radiation transmitted from soil and water into agricultural produce.

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