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22 Long-Term Public Health, Economic, and Societal Concerns
• Ambitious rehabilitation and social benefit programs started by the former Soviet
Union, and continued by Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, need reformulation due
to changes in radiation conditions, poor targeting and funding shortages.
Alongside radiation-induced deaths and diseases, the report labels the mental health impact
of Chernobyl as “the largest public health problem created by the accident” and partially
attributes this damaging psychological impact to a lack of accurate information. These problems manifest as negative self -assessments of health, belief in a shortened life expectancy,
lack of initiative, and dependency on assistance from the state.
“Two decades after the Chernobyl accident, residents in the affected areas still lack the
information they need to lead the healthy and productive lives that are possible,” explains
Louisa Vinton, Chernobyl focal point at the UNDP. “We are advising our partner governments that they must reach people with accurate information, not only about how to live
safely in regions of low-level contamination, but also about leading healthy lifestyles and
creating new livelihoods.”
The WHO report was conducted two decades after the Chernobyl accident and it
was clear that hundreds of thousands of people were still suffering from the psychological trauma of the event and that this was likely to continue for some time to come.
The psychological trauma of Chernobyl has already lasted for a generation.
This should not be surprising; the Hibakusha (Japanese atomic bomb survivors)
were stigmatized for several decades following the nuclear attacks against Japan with
resulting in long-standing mental health concerns. In her 2013 thesis, University of
Oregon MS student Michelle Heath [6] noted that 24% of Hibakusha responding to
a survey felt the need to hide their status in order to avoid discrimination, that the
group reported diminished marital prospects, with similar effects noted following
the 2011 Fukushima accident.
Social stigmatization and lasting psychological trauma have been observed in the
aftermath of the majority of large-scale radiological and nuclear events; it seems
reasonable to assume that the aftermath of an attack would be no different. In fact,
things might be even worse in this regard, considering that there would also be
the added trauma of the terrorist attack. In one publication, Neria and others [12]
note a significant level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 along with accompanying depression,
anxiety, and substance abuse—similar to what WHO noted in their 2006 report about
Chernobyl survivors, and to what Heath described regarding the Hibakusha in her
thesis. Neria et al. report on telephone surveys shortly after the attacks that revealed
44% of adult Americans surveyed reported symptoms of PTSD, with the incidence
dropping to 5.8% six months later. It must be stressed that these surveys were of all
Americans, not only those in the cities that were attacked; 5.8% of all Americans
means that more than more than 16 million Americans remained traumatized six
months after these attacks.
At somewhat later times—up to five years after the attacks—various studies
showed a few to several percent of the general population continued to exhibit symptoms of PTSD, and nearly 20% of emergency responders [4]. Interestingly, while rates
of PTSD dropped with the amount of time that elapsed following the attacks, those
who were directly involved—emergency responders, persons in the buildings that
22 Long-Term Public Health, Economic, and Societal Concerns
• Ambitious rehabilitation and social benefit programs started by the former Soviet
Union, and continued by Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, need reformulation due
to changes in radiation conditions, poor targeting and funding shortages.
Alongside radiation-induced deaths and diseases, the report labels the mental health impact
of Chernobyl as “the largest public health problem created by the accident” and partially
attributes this damaging psychological impact to a lack of accurate information. These problems manifest as negative self -assessments of health, belief in a shortened life expectancy,
lack of initiative, and dependency on assistance from the state.
“Two decades after the Chernobyl accident, residents in the affected areas still lack the
information they need to lead the healthy and productive lives that are possible,” explains
Louisa Vinton, Chernobyl focal point at the UNDP. “We are advising our partner governments that they must reach people with accurate information, not only about how to live
safely in regions of low-level contamination, but also about leading healthy lifestyles and
creating new livelihoods.”
The WHO report was conducted two decades after the Chernobyl accident and it
was clear that hundreds of thousands of people were still suffering from the psychological trauma of the event and that this was likely to continue for some time to come.
The psychological trauma of Chernobyl has already lasted for a generation.
This should not be surprising; the Hibakusha (Japanese atomic bomb survivors)
were stigmatized for several decades following the nuclear attacks against Japan with
resulting in long-standing mental health concerns. In her 2013 thesis, University of
Oregon MS student Michelle Heath [6] noted that 24% of Hibakusha responding to
a survey felt the need to hide their status in order to avoid discrimination, that the
group reported diminished marital prospects, with similar effects noted following
the 2011 Fukushima accident.
Social stigmatization and lasting psychological trauma have been observed in the
aftermath of the majority of large-scale radiological and nuclear events; it seems
reasonable to assume that the aftermath of an attack would be no different. In fact,
things might be even worse in this regard, considering that there would also be
the added trauma of the terrorist attack. In one publication, Neria and others [12]
note a significant level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 along with accompanying depression,
anxiety, and substance abuse—similar to what WHO noted in their 2006 report about
Chernobyl survivors, and to what Heath described regarding the Hibakusha in her
thesis. Neria et al. report on telephone surveys shortly after the attacks that revealed
44% of adult Americans surveyed reported symptoms of PTSD, with the incidence
dropping to 5.8% six months later. It must be stressed that these surveys were of all
Americans, not only those in the cities that were attacked; 5.8% of all Americans
means that more than more than 16 million Americans remained traumatized six
months after these attacks.
At somewhat later times—up to five years after the attacks—various studies
showed a few to several percent of the general population continued to exhibit symptoms of PTSD, and nearly 20% of emergency responders [4]. Interestingly, while rates
of PTSD dropped with the amount of time that elapsed following the attacks, those
who were directly involved—emergency responders, persons in the buildings that