Health effects of the Chernobyl accident
On 26 April 1986 the world witnessed the most serious nuclear accident in history. The Chernobyl disaster was a human tragedy, resulting in large-scale displacement of populations, the contamination of vast areas of land, and the loss of livelihoods. The people affected by the accident were confronted with situations they could not understand and against which they had no means of defense. The mental trauma suffered by those who had to be evacuated compounded an already intolerable situation as many experienced the severing of links with their home and social networks.
An inter-agency initiative, the Chernobyl Forum, was launched in 2003 to provide assessments of the environmental, health, and socio-economic consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The following UN organizations (FAO, IAEA, OCHA, UNDP, UNEP, UNSCEAR, WHO), the World Bank and the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine joined the efforts to generate "authoritative consensual statements" on the environmental and health consequences attributable to radiation exposure arising from the accident and provide evidence-based recommendations for mitigation of these consequences.
Terms of reference for the Chernobyl Forum
Two independent Expert Groups - "Environment" (EGE) coordinated by the IAEA and "Health" (EGH) coordinated by WHO - have produced their respective reports for the Forum's consideration. The WHO carried out an independent scientific assessment of research findings on the Chernobyl-related health effects and of special health care programs in the three affected states, produced consensual statements and recommendations for the governments.
A WHO report entitled Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident and Special Health Care Programmes (2006) was produced as a result of a series of expert meetings. In addition, a WHO fact sheet summarizes the main health effects of the accident as outlined in the report.
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English version
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Russian version
A report entitled Environmental Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident and Their Remediation: Twenty Years of Experience (2006) has been published by the IAEA.
Full report [pdf 9.62Mb]
The Chernobyl Forum's Digest Report is a summary of three technical reports done by the WHO, IAEA and UNDP.
English [pdf 924kb]
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Russian [pdf 948kb]
Related links
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IARC project - Agenda for Research on Chernobyl Health: ARCH
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IPHECA
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WHO's role in assessing and mitigating health effects
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Other WHO activities and partners' projects
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