The World Health Organization (WHO) has been accused of a high-level cover-up concerning the human impact and dangers of ionizing radiation. In an interview with Alison Katz, a spokesperson for the organization, she asserted that if the public were aware of the consequences of nuclear radiation, the debate about nuclear power would be brought to a swift close and it would be excluded as an energy option. This has caused alarm among many, as the WHO is trusted to be an independent organization that informs the public of health dangers and offers help in times of crises. The implications of this cover-up are far-reaching and have raised serious questions about the trustworthiness of the WHO.
For the past decade, Alison Katz has been a determined presence outside the World Health Organisation’s Geneva headquarters. As the head of the NGO Independent WHO, she has been organizing daily protests, displaying sandwich boards with slogans such as “Complicity in Scientific Crime” and “Crime of Chernobyl – WHO Accomplice”. This silent vigil is meant to remind the WHO of its Hippocratic duties, which it has allegedly neglected in protecting the health of those affected by the nuclear industry. Katz’s commitment to this cause is unparalleled, having remained on the same street corner every working day for the past ten years.
For the past decade, Alison Katz has been working tirelessly to combat the dangerous misrepresentation of the risks of ionizing radiation by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Despite the challenging nature of this issue, Ms. Katz has persisted in her mission, tirelessly carrying posters back and forth in all weather conditions. In recognition of her hard work, this article aims to honor Ms. Katz and her cause.
According to the website of Independent WHO, the organization seeks to expose the failings of the WHO and to call for its independence from the influence of the worldwide nuclear syndicate. Ms Katz, who worked inside the WHO for 18 years, has accused the organization of dangerously misrepresenting the dangers of ionizing radiation. This accusation has been met with great criticism.
The full interview with Ms Katz, which this article is based upon, can be accessed at http://nuclearhotseat.com/2017/04/25/uns-chernobyl-health-cover-up-exposed-alison-katz-independent-who-305/. Ms Katz’s dedication to her cause over the past decade is worthy of public recognition.
Ms Katz has raised serious concerns about the health consequences of nuclear activity. She claims that there has been a high-level cover-up of the risks, including by the World Health Organization (WHO). For more than half a century, WHO has provided a “clean bill of health” for nuclear power, but according to Ms Katz, this is not based on independent science, but rather “pseudo science” manipulated by the nuclear lobby and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is subordinate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) within the United Nations’ hierarchy. IAEA, in turn, reports to the UN Security Council, which is comprised of the world’s major nuclear powers, including France, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Russian Federation. This raises the question of how WHO can objectively and impartially assess and recommend radiation-related issues on behalf of the public.The IAEA has two mandates: to prevent proliferation of nuclear power and to promote the peaceful use of the atom. In reality, the IAEA is a commercial lobbying organization that promotes the use of the atom. However, the IAEA also dictates WHO procedures, standards, and published articles on the matter of nuclear radiation. This raises a very pregnant question: Is this a conflict of interest for WHO? The answer is yes! WHO is a creature of the dictates of the IAEA, which is the world’s largest promoter of the atom. Whereas, WHO is supposed to “independently serve the public interest,” not kowtow to a nuclear advocacy powerhouse that reports to nuclear powerhouse countries.For example, sixty (60) reactors are currently under construction in fifteen countries. In all, one hundred sixty (160) power reactors are in the planning stage and three hundred (300) more have been proposed. That’s a lot of love affairs.
Meanwhile, as for WHO’s mandate: It serves as the leading authority of standards for public health, coordinating research, advising member states, and formulating ionizing radioactivity health policies. However, IAEA has been usurping WHO’s mandate for the past 50 years. In fact, a 1959 Agreement (WHA 12-40) between the two says WHO needs prior approval of IAEA before taking any action or publishing material dealing with nuclear, period!
As a result of this 50-year conflict of interest, which is deeply embedded by now, Ms Katz claims WHO must, absolutely must, become independent, thus breaking the stranglehold of numero uno promoter of nuclear power over WHO, which is mandated to serve the public, not IAEA.
Not only is there a serious conflict of interest, Katz claims WHO fails, time and again, to meet its mandate to the public, as for example:
1) WHO remained absent from Chernobyl for five years even though the WHO mandate requires it to be present the “day after a catastrophe” to evaluate and provide assistance. But, WHO was MIA for 5 years.
2) WHO does not issue independent reports on radiation issues. All nuclear-related reports are written by IAEA but published “in the name of the WHO.”
3) Following Chernobyl, there were two international conferences held to analyze the implications of the catastrophe; one held in Geneva in 1995 and the second in Kiev in 2001. The “Proceedings of the Conferences” were never published by WHO; thus, never made public even though WHO claims the proceedings are publicly available. Confusing? Yes! To this day, the relevant question remains: What did “the analyses” show?
As a result of WHO’s egregious conflicts, the world community has no independent arms-length source on nuclear radiation. That is a situation fraught with conflict and extremely difficult to accept, sans grimacing with a lot of teeth grinding.
There is no independent international authority reporting to the public on nuclear radiation…. none whatsoever. All information about nuclear radiation ultimately comes from the primary users/promoters of nuclear power even though they have a very big heavy axe to grind.
Of course, there are independent scientists, but they face enormous obstacles in coming forward with the truth, thereby risking monetary grants and risking personal positions, as well as family livelihood.
Not only that, but over the years all departments within WHO that dealt with nuclear radiation have been highly compromised. Even worse, according to Ms Katz, no senior radiation scientists work for WHO, none… nada.
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is the leading authority on establishing radiation standards for the world. However, this raises questions as to why there are no health experts on staff. This is particularly concerning as ionizing radiation is known to be mutagenic and cause damage at the cellular level. Shockingly, there are also no molecular biologists employed by ICRP. This is a cause for alarm, as it is difficult to comprehend how the world’s largest institution for radiation standards has no experts in the field.
The 2011 Fukushima disaster has raised serious questions about the role of regulators in protecting the public from radiation. In response, Ms Katz, a radiation expert, met with the Director General and five of the highest-ranking officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The mayor of Geneva, the city where WHO is headquartered, was also in attendance. The provision of Geneva’s city code prohibiting nuclear power was also discussed.
The outcome of the meeting demonstrated that WHO had shirked its responsibilities in the wake of Fukushima. However, a small victory was found when the Director General admitted that “there is no safe threshold of radiation” and conceded that there are differences between internal and external radiation. This marked a shift in the organisation’s stance.
The Director General admitted that the number of deaths from Chernobyl was much higher than 50, despite his organization, WHO, claiming that only 50 people had died. This number is fabricated and has no meaning. There is no observational data to support it.
Consequences of Chernobyl
The World Health Organization (WHO) convened a Chornobyl Forum in 2004 in an effort to bring an end to the continuous debate about the impact of radiation from the Chornobyl disaster. WHO maintains that 50 people died as a direct result of the incident.The Chornobyl Forum ‘04 has reached a startling conclusion: the mental health of those living in the area is the most serious long-term effect of the disaster. This has led to a negative outlook and an exaggerated fear of radiation. Mental health is now the most significant negative consequence of the event.
This conclusion is extraordinary, and one can only imagine the surreal environment of the forum. It is almost as if one had stepped into the realm of fantasy, such as the dark and twisted world of Jan Švankmajer’s Alice, a film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland.
The Chornobyl disaster of 1986 had a devastating impact on the region, but it was the 800,000 Liquidators from the former USSR who fought to contain the damage. According to an interview with one of the Liquidators, they worked in three shifts of just five to seven minutes at a time due to the danger, and would discard their clothes after each shift. The average age of the Liquidators was 33, and their efforts to deactivate the third and fourth reactors, as well as build the containment sarcophagus, were heroic. (Source: Return to Chornobyl With Ukraine’s Liquidators, Aljazeera, April 25, 2016).The 633rd, a group of liquidators who worked to contain the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, report that 71 of their 259 members have died since the event. 68 have been declared invalids by a state committee, and the National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine in Kiev estimates that around 20,000 liquidators die each year. These figures are a stark reminder of the human cost of the Chernobyl disaster.The Chief Medical Officer of the Russian Federation reported that 10% of its Chernobyl Liquidators had died by 2001, a staggering 16 years after the disaster occurred in 1986. This figure was corroborated by authorities in Ukraine and Belarus, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) claims only 50 fatalities.
Ms Katz’s figures do not account for those most affected by the disaster, such as evacuees, and the fact that 57% of the fallout from Chernobyl spread beyond the USSR, Belarus and Ukraine, contaminating 50% of the countryside in 13 European countries. The true death toll is therefore likely to be much higher than the official figures suggest.
The long-term impact of the Chornobyl disaster has been extensively studied, with thousands of independent studies in Ukraine, Belarus, the Russian Federation and other affected countries. These studies have found a significant increase in all types of cancer, as well as diseases of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, urogenital, endocrine, immune and nervous systems, as well as increased rates of prenatal, perinatal, infant and child mortality, spontaneous abortions, deformities and genetic anomalies. The World Health Organization’s handling and analysis of the Chornobyl disaster has left many people with questions and concerns.
WHO’s Flawed Fukushima Report
Alex Rosen of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War has critiqued two reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the Fukushima incident, finding them to be highly problematic. His assessment echoes the concerns raised in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, with both incidents being characterized by a lack of thoroughness in their investigations.
Rosen’s main point of contention is that WHO’s estimates of Fukushima radioactive exposure are at least 50% lower than those of other organizations, including the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant operator. This discrepancy has raised questions about WHO’s role as the guardian of public health, as their estimates are significantly lower than those of TEPCO.
Two critical population studies have been disregarded in the WHO reports. This includes all of the inhabitants within the 20 km exclusion zone, who would have experienced the highest radiation exposure, and the workers on site. Furthermore, the WHO has given its approval to the Japanese government’s decision to raise the annual maximum radiation exposure for the general population to 20 mSv per year. This is a drastic change from the previous regulations.
Effects of Radiation
Research has shown that the genetic effects of radiation may be far more serious than it looks. According to a study conducted by Katz, the genetic effects of radiation do not diminish over time but instead increase. This is a cause for great concern, as the public is not adequately informed of the risks associated with radiation. The World Health Organization and other health organizations have a responsibility to ensure that the public is aware of the potential dangers of radiation.Research conducted over the years at Chernobyl has revealed the devastating genetic impact of radiation on the human body. It is a tragedy that is only increasing with time, as radiation does not heal, dissipate or go away. Instead, it accumulates and worsens, much like the sequels to the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla, which was created as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. As Katz puts it, “radiation is both a continuing and a worsening catastrophe as time passes”.
The devastating effects of radioactive contamination on the human body are indisputable. Not only is cancer a potential outcome of radiation exposure, but the entire immune system is compromised, leading to damage of all organ systems, including the musculoskeletal. The long-term effects of radiation are made evident in the Chernobyl disaster, where 30 years later, children in over 300 asylums in Belarus are still suffering from the horrific deformities caused by the contamination.
Today, the effects of the Chernobyl disaster, which occurred in 1986, are still being felt. According to a USA Today article, 453,391 children, none of whom were born at the time of the accident, are registered with Ukraine’s health ministry to receive ongoing Chernobyl-related health care. These children suffer from a range of illnesses, including respiratory, digestive, musculoskeletal, eye diseases, blood diseases, cancer, congenital malformations, genetic abnormalities, and trauma. This is a stark reminder of the lasting impact of the Chernobyl disaster, and the need for continued support for those affected by it.For three decades, the world has been unaware of the devastating effects of long-term radiation exposure on the human body. USA Today recently shed light on this silent killer, which accumulates in the body and is passed down from generation to generation, causing irreversible destruction.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is yet to take action to address this issue, as the effects of ionizing radiation are far from a game. The Fukushima disaster continues to irradiate the environment, with no end in sight. The question remains: where does the radiation go?
