In a first satellite broadcast between Geneva, Switzerland and Obninsk, the Russian Federation, scientists and medical experts in both cities were exchanging information and consulting today while examining real time diagnostic images of patients suffering from thyroid cancer linked to the Chernobyl fall-out.
The medical purpose of the teleconference was to verify the diagnosis of thyroid cancer in three children by an international team of experts, and to discuss treatment.
Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said after the teleconference organized within the framework of TELECOM 95: "Although carried by two satellites, today's demonstration was a down-to-earth application of high technology. WHO intends to work closely with the International Telecommunication Union in realizing the International Programme on the Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident (IPHECA) as regards health, telecommunications and informatics".
The teleconference highlighted a particularly serious problem associated with Chernobyl - the rise in the incidence of thyroid cancer among children. WHO set up IPHECA shortly after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 with THYROID DISEASES being one of the most challenging projects in the programme. WHO's partner in the project, the Medical Radiological Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Obninsk has gained substantial experience in the field of radiation medicine.
Children living in areas which were exposed to contamination with high levels of the radionuclides of Iodine are especially vulnerable to thyroid gland disorders including malignant neoplasms. As of August 1995, 57 cases of thyroid cancer have been detected in children of Bryansk province. In the adjacent Kaluga and Tula provinces altogether eight cases have been reported. The incidence of thyroid cancer in children in the affected regions is 30 times higher as compared with the data for the Russian Federation as a whole. For the last ten years the incidence of thyroid cancer in children in the Russian Federation has not exceeded one, maximum two, cases per million children.
The teleconference, jointly organized by the International Telecommunication Union and the World Health Organization, used facilities and equipment provided by the International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmarsat), Morsviazsputnik (the Russian Signatory to Inmarsat), Satelcom (United Kingdom), 7E Communications (United Kingdom), BASIC Association of Japan, and CINV (Obninsk). The equipment used for the teleconference can provide still and dynamic diagnostic images. It is highly portable, and may allow for the provision of telemedicine anywhere in the world.
"One of the objectives of the teleconference between Obninsk and Geneva was to test this kind of equipment for a specific application in the field of radiation medicine and telepathology", said Dr Nikolai Napalkov, Assistant Director-General of WHO. "Results of the examination and treatment of patients were discussed during the teleconference. Each case of thyroid cancer identified within the IPHECA programme needs to be verified internationally. This teleconference will help find solutions to the medical problems faced by victims of Chernobyl and other radiation accidents".
WHO is organizing a major international scientific conference on HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF THE CHERNOBYL AND OTHER RADIOLOGICAL ACCIDENTS which will be held in Geneva at the International Conference Centre from 20 to 23 November 1995. It is expected that up to 600 scientists, public health specialists and policy makers will gather in Geneva to share the results of their studies and observations. The Conference is to provide world-wide updating and exchange of information on health consequences from radiological events and accidents ranging from Hiroshima to Chernobyl. The meeting is co-sponsored by the Republic and Canton of Geneva, and the Ministries of Health of Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine.