Only a relatively small percentage of affected children have been able to leave their polluted environment, some for weeks and some for years, for sanatoriums in non-contaminated areas in their own countries or for treatment in foreign countries such as Cuba. In Ukraine alone about 500,000 children continue to live in contaminated areas. Children have been stranded in radiated zones, eating locally grown vegetables and fruits and drinking cows' milk, sources of radioactive pollution from the affected food chain. Children also suffer from deteriorating sociomental conditions due to the desperation of their parents and neighbors in the face of overwhelming problems and drastically reduced options in life. A total clean-up of the Chernobyl disaster is beyond any Financial or technological means.
People have to continue to live with many hazardous consequences of the catastrophe.
However, much of the suffering of children and their parents could be alleviated. A clean environment is the prerequisite for the realization of the rights of the child, engraved in the Convention of the Rights of the Child ratified by all three republics affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Children and their parents need all the information they can get regarding effect of radiation on their health and ways to look for assistance and avoid risks. Families must be supported in their struggle to overcome despair and depression. Locally created environmental groups, support groups such as mothers' associations, and social centers need to be strengthened.