Fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 is still claiming victims, especially children. The European Commission is funding humanitarian aid worth 2 Million ECU for those affected in Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. The aid is being channelled via the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), which is working on this project with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and non-governmental organisations.

The IFRC programme involves continued mobile screening and monitoring of the population exposed to the disaster, providing supplies for tests, as well as vitamins and milk.

Four non-governmental organisations will supply specialist equipment to hospitals treating radiation-related illnesses, especially cancers. They are: Hilfe für die Kinderklinik Minsk, and Kinder von Tschernobyl -- Stiftung des Landes Niedersachsen, both from Germany, a British NGO, Merlin, and l'Associazione per la Participazione allo Sviluppo from Italy. These coordinated projects are scheduled to last one year.