Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
Cold War victims buy ambulance with $10,000 donation from Scots Euro MP
A gift of $10,000 given by Scottish Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson to a village clinic in a remote part of East Kazakhstan has been used to purchase a 4 wheel drive ambulance and associated medical equipment.
Along with Australian actress Kimberley Joseph, who starred in Cold Feet and Lost, he has raised over $90,000 for causes in Kazakhstan. Part of the money raised came from an auction of photographs taken by Ms Joseph during her visits to the country.
The news was given to the MEP this week by doctors from the clinic in Sarzhal in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan where the Soviets detonated 607 nuclear weapons between 1949 an 1990. Sarzhal is over 80 miles from the main city of Semey and with crumbling roads and infrastructure, the tortuous journey to take seriously ill patients to hospital can take many hours in the summer when baking temperatures can reach 40 degrees C. In the winter, such journeys are impossible when the area is blanketed in one metre deep snow and temperatures plummet to minus 30 degrees C. The new 4WD ambulance may help to overcome these difficulties.
The legacy of the top secret Soviet nuclear tests in this remote zone called ‘The Polygon’ by Stalin, is one of ill health, disease and suffering. The 1.5 million local citizens were subjected to the equivalent of 20,000 Hiroshima bombs, used as human guinea-pigs by the Soviets. Seepage from the underground tests has polluted watercourses and streams. Farmland has been heavily irradiated. Radioactive contamination has entered the food chain. As a result, cancers are widespread. Almost everyone is born with chronic anaemia. Suicides, particularly among young people are commonplace.
On hearing the news, Struan said: “I am delighted that the donation has been put to such good use and hope the ambulance and equipment can save many precious lives.”
