USSR : learning to think constructively / by Igor Aleksandrovic Serkov

T his Spring I was walking through one of the beautiful parks of Kiev, talking with a friend, when suddenly he said, "All you hear now in Kiev is the cawing of crows". I listened. There were dozens of birds singing every kind of birdsong. My friend did not hear them. Then I remembered that when I came to Kiev · last year everyone was complaining about their thyroid glands. This year they all had sore feet. And they had only one explanation: radia- tion from Chernobyl. I know Kiev too well to try to disabuse my friends and acquaintances of their fears, which are simply inexplicable to outsiders. The Chernobyl disaster has clearly become a focus for all the political, economic, ecological and medical problems that are tormenting Soviet society today. Sociological surveys con- ducted by various centres for public opinion research have produced astounding results. A third of those canvassed are convinced that there will be no improvement in their lifetime. A further third believe that any improvement will be insignificant. Fully a quarter think that things will only get worse. While 25% believe that people have already run out of patience, 21% think that people will put up with the situation only for another few months and 23% are of the opinion that the patience of the Soviet people is infinite. These results are endorsed not only by sociologists and politicians, but by doctors too. There are regular outbreaks of lice infestation in the Soviet Union today, especially in schools and kindergar- tens. Mihail Narkevich, head of the Central Epidemiology Unit of the Soviet Ministry of Health, gives this explanation: "Admitting the extent of lice infestation would be like acknow- ledging the trouble that society is in. This is why such matters were hushed up in the past. In recent years, this particular health problem has taken on alarming proportions that bear witness to the scale of social upheaval in our country. Lice infestation affects first and foremost people who are in a state of depression. The main under- lying cause of such outbreaks is disor- ganization, uncertainty and fear of the next day." This example shows clearly enough that many Soviet citizens are living in constant expectation of calamity, with a feeling that a disaster is already upon them and its end is nowhere in sight. It is hard to disagree with People's W ORLD HEALTH. November-December 1991 USSR: learning to think constructively by lgor Aleksandrovic Serkov Deputy Aleksej Jablokov, a corres- ponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, when he exclaims, "Ecological ignorance in our country often goes hand in hand with ecological recklessness, both of which lead to ecological crime." Yet it is just as hard to resolve the dilemma that would be posed by closing down, on ecological grounds, chemical plants producing drugs which are in desper- ately short supply. Death from disease related to air or water pollution or death from drug shortage? This is the kind of choice the Soviet people are often faced with. "I was recently in the Soviet Union", says Wilfrid Kreisel, Director of the Environmental Health Division at WHO headquarters in Geneva, "and my first impression was that they only began to think about ecology and people's health quite recently. Now times have changed, and people realize that they must not only work but also live. But I noticed too that many Soviet people are much too pessimistic about the future. With that kind of outlook nothing can be done. It's demoralizing. "You have to assess the situation without panic or hysteria, then estab- lish priorities and act. Given the present drug situation in the Soviet Union it would be crazy to close pharmaceutical plants. Life goes on even where there is harmful pollution, but without drugs people simply die. Furthermore, drug shortages cause panic, and no one knows what that can lead to. Of course, particularly dangerous factories must be closed, but first one must ascertain which are essential and which are not." This WHO expert is, of course, correct. And yet ... for many years the Soviet people have lived in ignorance of what was going on in their own country. They were led to believe that fires, floods and earthquakes caused neither loss of life nor serious damage. The main aim of Soviet propaganda was to create an atmosphere of well- being. Now the country is reaping the bitter harvest of that policy. Each new disaster shows up the inability of the Soviet people to cope with catas- trophe. Each time the only hope is the army, which is not able to act with equal success in every situation. And the victims in their ignorance can make matters worse. There are amazing instances from Chernobyl: one of many examples is that none of the firemen had been trained in fighting fires in radioactive zones. The rescue workers and firemen had no idea of how serious the risk of contamination was. The Soviet Union today is faced with a possible new danger: huge numbers of people could become refugees if civil disturbances in various republics deteriorate. And so far neither the legal nor the medical aspects of how to cope with such colossal movements of peoples have been worked out. The WHO Constitution promises to provide the necessary aid to member states in emergencies; its regional offices have their own programmes of emergency preparedness and response. The Soviet people are pin- ning their hopes on the assistance of international organizations, but they may be hoping for too much. All the same, most of the Soviet population realize that their problems will not be resolved without extensive interna- tional support. They cannot do without the expertise and experience of WHO. As Wilfrid Kreisel says, "I have been in situations where people felt there was no hope, that the end of the world had come; and yet a way out was always found. You just have to think positively. There is a lot that people can do, however hard their life is." The dearth of constructive thinking is really one of the most serious shortages in the USSR today. But we want to believe that the help of the interna- tional community will enable us to overcome it. • Mr lgor Aleksandrovic Serkov is Deputy Editor of Nedelja w eek ly ma gaz in e. Pu skin s k a j a plo sca d 5. M oscow. USSR. 29