The project aims to improve the health of mothers and children in highly contaminated areas of Gomel Region by expanding and modernizing basic medical service structures in the target districts.

Gomel Region in south-east Belarus, as well as Bragin district in the south of the region (not far from Chernobyl), are among the country's worst-contaminated regions. However, even after the mass resettlements that took place in the late 1980s, some seventeen thousand people still live there, most of them employed on collective farms.

Local people still have too little know-how to protect themselves against absorbing radio nuclides. For instance, they are not aware that radiation absorption can be greatly reduced by eating uncontaminated food.

A disastrous combination of poverty, poor-quality food, inadequate hygiene and higher tobacco and alcohol consumption further undermines the health of the local population.

The radionuclide measurements introduced by the Government of Belarus proved ineffective because the financial resources for blanket measuring-point coverage were lacking. Moreover, there was no information and no strategic approach. Analysis of the government project showed that successful implementation of the State programme for long-term rehabilitation of the contaminated areas depended on the people concerned being actively involved in daily dealings with radioactive contamination.

The SDC Cooperation Office therefore joined forces with the Bragin District Hospital and other partners to introduce a comprehensive monitoring system. Locals are to be provided with specific information about the measures they can take to prevent further absorption of radiation. This includes measuring the level of radiation contained in the food they eat, as well as monitoring the amount of radiation in their own bodies. If the levels are too high, a change in eating or other habits can result in a substantial reduction. Furthermore, adapting farming methods brings down radiation levels in food in the medium and long term.

Under the SDC project, locals were equipped with portable dosimeters, and two new radiation monitoring centres were set up with the participation of the NGO "The Sprout of Life", while the four existing ones were modernized. The equipment of these local monitoring centres is regularly checked and maintained, and dosimetry specialists are constantly receiving training or further training. Twice a year, in April and October, radioactivity levels in the bodies of all children of school age are checked using a mobile measurement unit.

Since the project began, there has already been a marked decrease in the average radiation levels of children in all risk groups.