Medical consequences of the Chernobyl accident: aftermath and unsolved problems*.

Data on the health consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident are generalized. The volume and quality of the information available at different times after the accident which is required for diagnostics of the prognosis and for picking methods for minimizing the consequences of the accident are evaluated. The decisions made during the early period using the limited information available at the time but requiring that immediate measures be taken, whose accuracy can be evaluated in the future, are compared. Three basic groups of individuals drawn into the accident situation with a different combination of health risk factors are singled out: emergency shift workers, participants in post-accident cleanup, and the population in the accidental emission zone. The health consequences for these groups and the principles of their observation in the future are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]