Children who had cancer 'linked to Chernobyl' come to UK for health boost

On a sunny afternoon in July, a group of teenagers playing tennis in Birmingham look like any other children enjoying the summer holiday.

But these young people have two things in common. They are all from Belarus and have all suffered with childhood cancer. Now in remission, they have come to spend the summer in England.

Thirteen-year-old Alex Matyuta had to have part of his stomach removed to treat his cancer. "I was very scared," he says, as he recalls the surgery.

He lives near Minsk and says his parents believe they know why he got cancer. "Because of Chernobyl, I think," he says. "Belarus is close to Ukraine and in Ukraine was Chernobyl."

The explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 released devastating amounts of radioactive material. It contaminated large parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

The long-term health implications for people in the region have been difficult to establish, in part due to the lack of reliable public health information available from before the disaster.

The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) has found an increase in thyroid cancer in children and adolescents exposed to radiation but no scientific evidence in overall cancer incidence or mortality rates.

The UK-based charity Chernobyl Children's Project has been working with children from Belarus since 1995.

It organises trips to countries across Europe for children who have suffered illnesses they believe could be linked to radioactive contamination.

Kath Ruane is a co-ordinator for the charity. She said: "New cases are increasing. For children of their age some of the cancers are not usually that high in the rest of the world but the contamination means that more and more children, third generation, are still getting the cancers.

"We could see straight away the difference the holiday makes to them. Four weeks away in the fresh air and clean food, uncontaminated food, just a boost all-round to their systems and immunity."

Yury Kuzmenka is a doctor based in Minsk. He is travelling with Alex and 11 other children throughout the month they're spending in the Midlands in order to provide any medical support they need.

"Radiation affects cells and also genetics," he says.

"Their parents or grandparents could have been affected by Chernobyl and it's in their genes."