Letter

Childhood thyroid cancer since accident at Chernobyl

BMJ 1995; 310 doi: 10.1136/bmj.310.6982.801 (Published 25 March 1995)
Cite this as: BMJ 1995;310:801.1

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  1. V A Stsjazhko,
  2. A F Tsyb,
  3. N D Tronko,
  4. G Souchkevitch,
  5. K F Baverstock
  1. Head Chernobyl Accident Health Effects Department, Ministry of Health, 220097 Minsk, Republic of Belarus
  2. Director Research Institute of Medical Radiology, Academy of Medical Sciences, SU-249020 Obninsk, Russian Federation
  3. Director Kiev Research Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 254114 Kiev, Ukraine
  4. Radiation scientist Office of Global and Integraded Environmental Health, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
  5. Radiation scientist World Health Organisation, European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome Division, I-00156 Rome, Italy

    EDITOR,—We wish to report on a meeting of scientists from the three countries most closely affected by the accident at Chernobyl and from the World Health Organisation to review the programme of screening for and diagnosis of childhood thyroid cancer undertaken since the accident in April 1986. While the central purpose of the screening programme was humanitarian, during the review some of the information compiled was deemed to be of scientific interest.

    The table shows that, before the accident, the annual incidences of childhood cancer were in line with spontaneous rates in many other parts of the world. For example, the rate observed during 1962-92 in England and Wales was about 0.5/million (E D Williams, personal communication).

    In Belarus …

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