Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 5, 1993 TAG: 9302050054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
U.S. DOCTOR HELPS LAUNCH LOTTERY FOR CHERNOBYL VICTIMS
The American doctor who helped treat victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Thursday announced a Russian lottery that he hopes will raise $1 billion to pay for more research and medical treatment."We're desperate for money," said Dr. Robert Gale, the American bone-marrow specialist.
The tickets are being sold for $1 or its ruble equivalent "because this is the only way to protect the proceeds from inflation," said Vladimir Tkach, director of the Children of Chernobyl lottery.
The target could prove difficult to reach. One dollar at the current exchange rate is 572 rubles, a day's wage for many Russians.
The tickets, printed in the United States, went on sale Jan. 15 at kiosks, street vendors and hard-currency shops. Prizes range from $5 to $100,000. Some of the winners will get tickets entering them in the Kentucky state lottery.
After the April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, Gale flew in and helped Soviet doctors treat 499 people at Moscow's Hospital No. 6.
"Twenty-nine died from radiation but the other 470 are alive and quite well and we continue to follow them in the clinic," Gale said at a news conference. Two others died at the site of the explosion, the world's worst nuclear accident.
Gale said a deteriorating health system, economic upheaval and the breakup of the Soviet Union have made it difficult for experts to precisely measure the health impact of Chernobyl.
Experts who once worked with a central Soviet government now must coordinate with the governments of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - "none of which is particularly keen to work with the others," he said.
The organizers said they hoped to raise $150 million in the first year for medicine, medical equipment, and rehabilitation and relocation services for children. Thousands of families were evacuated from their homes after the nuclear disaster.
Gale has predicted that 2,000 to 20,000 people will die of cancer around the world during the next 50 years as a result of the radiation release at Chernobyl. Some Ukrainian scientists claim that thousands already have died, but former Soviet officials say the cancer rate has not been affected at all by the accident.
Gale said some survivors have exaggerated their health problems.
"Not every bit of ill health they have is caused by Chernobyl," he said.
Gale has visited the Soviet Union repeatedly since the accident and raised money for victims. He was in Moscow last year for the premiere of a television movie based on his book, "Final Warning: The Legacy of Chernobyl."