Since the tragedy of Chernobyl there has been an increase in birth defects, childhood cancers and diabetes. These figures only indicate part of the picture. There is almost a complete lack of green vegetables. Fresh fruit is beyond the means of most families in the winter. Many people, especially those on fixed incomes, live primarily on potatoes and bread in the winter.
Fresh fish is a rarity.
Most fish is tinned, salted or dried and is beyond most budgets. The iodine in iodised salt available in Belarus has an effective shelf-life of only 6 months. Added to hot or boiling food, in any case, it loses its nutritional value. The elderly suffering from the usual constellation of complaints of old age must travel from clinic to clinic to have each condition treated separately. There are no geriatric clinics.