SWITZERLAND: Cancer risks higher in worst hit Fukushima area, World Health Organisation says

Record ID: 216000

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: Cancer risks higher in worst hit Fukushima area, World Health Organisation says
  • Date: 28th February 2013
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FEBRUARY 28, 2013) (REUTERS) WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION REPORT (WHO) ON FUKUSHIMA HEALTH RISK ON TABLE/ JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES DIRECTOR OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT AT WHO, DOCTOR MARIA NEIRA, ARRIVING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT AT WHO, DOCTOR MARIA NEIRA, SAYING: "If we
  • Embargoed: 15th March 2013 12:00
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  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVA2W7T1D57E7F4WXLAP3HM84WV8
  • Story Text: People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a 4 percent higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday (February 28).
    "If we take all solid cancers together, the increase will be four percent and I repeat again, for the most affected areas and an additional estimated risk that can be predicted over the already expected background rate of cancer that you will have in any type of population," said Doctor Maria Neira from the WHO.
    For the general population, inside and outside of Japan, the risks are low and there is no observation of increases in cancer the WHO said in its report.
    A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.
    In the most contaminated area, the WHO estimated that there was a 70 percent higher risk of females exposed as infants developing thyroid cancer over their lifetime. The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there and children are deemed especially vulnerable.
    The report did not yet give data on the numbers of people who received particular radiation doses, so it is not yet possible to estimate the overall health consequences.
    "The purpose of this report was not to say how many deaths or how many cancers or deaths caused by cancer are expected. The purpose of this report was saying, looking at this portion and the doses of which peoples has been exposed, what is the risk that we can expect as an increase over the base line, or the so called natural one. I think this is more human than trying to predict how many people will die from cancer," said Doctor Neira.
    The report concluded that for the general population inside Japan, the predicted health risks were low, but that one-third of emergency workers were estimated to have increased risk.
    But there was no discernible increase in health risks expected outside Japan, the WHO in a 200-page report, which was based on a comprehensive assessment by international experts.
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