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A National Cancer Institute report which predicts that
nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands directly caused about
530 cancers, an estimated half of which have yet to appear,
is certain to be a point of discussion in next week’s House
hearing on the RMI’s changed circumstances petition. “The
RMI government is extremely interested in the National
Cancer Institute’s projections of future cancer rates,” RMI
Ambassador Banny deBrum said. “It seems to me that the
cancer projections certainly extend beyond the four
(US-acknowledged nuclear test-affected) atolls into a
broader population in the RMI.”
Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios told the Journal that the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) study and a report by the US
Congressional Research Service “gives us information for a
better appreciation of how to deal with the changed
circumstances petition.”
Zackios said the NCI study clearly indicates that many
other islands — not previously acknowledged by the United
States as radiation-affected— were exposed.
“We’re finding people on remote islands with high
percentages of cancers,” he said, adding that the health
care program only extends to people from Bikini, Enewetak,
Rongelap and Utrik.
DeBrum, who is based in Washington, said: “The RMI
government has been talking to the US government about the
need to update the health care delivery and monitoring
programs in the RMI for communities most impacted by the US
nuclear weapons testing program.”
He said that he looked forward to bilateral discussions
about this, including the upcoming hearings on the changed
circumstances petition and other nuclear issues, “to
consider whether the recommendations by NCI should influence
the type of health surveillance in the RMI.
“I am interested in learning from the US government its
reactions to the NCI report and whether it thinks the NCI
report justifies changes to the existing medical care and
monitoring provided by the United States.”
Note: ‘We’ll work tirelessly to settle’
The US House of Representatives will be the first US
congressional body to hold hearings on the nuclear test
compensation petition filed five years ago by the Marshall
Islands government.
President Kessai Note announced last week that he had
received confirmation from House Resources Chairman Richard
Pombo that his committee will hold an oversight hearing on
May 25 in Washington.
“The United States Nuclear Legacy in the Marshall
Islands: Consideration of Issues Relating to the Changed
Circumstances Petition,” is the theme of the hearing.
Note said that the Marshall Islands will “work tirelessly
to make certain that the nuclear issue is settled in a fair
and just manner.”
Pombo visited the Marshall Islands briefly in January
2004.
The Senate Energy Committee is also expected to hold
hearings on the petition, but no dates have been set. |
