and notedthat without these reports and analyses a medical
program for the Northern Marshalls cannot be planned.
He
does not fault the contractor since DOE, as yet, has not
produced this material on the Northern Marshalls.
Dr.
Blejer
(with MIATLP)
felt that there was a lack of integra-
tion in the three documents.
He also asked if the representa-
tive of HHS had any comments on possible role of USPHS or would
there be later amplification from the U.S. Public Health
Service on this aspect.
Mr. Mitchell (Enewetak) did not find any consumer involvement
in the health planning documents.
He held that there should be
input from the people involved.
A local advisory board or
council would be useful and could provide feedback.
Dr.
Hart, Loma Linda, pointed out that the contract teams had
visited Enewetak Atoll, Rongelap, Utirik, etc., and had met
with local representatives.
Weather and transportation difficulties had prevented a visit to Kili Island but Bikinians
elsewhere had been consulted.
Mr. Mitchell (Enewetak) was critical of the chapter in the
appendix relating to the socio-cultural perspective and did not
feel it was accurate or adequate.
He also questioned whether
there was as much "Scattering" of "affected peoples" as the
contractor and others believed.
He conceded that there had
been some scattering but did not believe the enormous budget
of the four atoll proposal was justified.
He again stressed,
that in his opinion, all that is required is to provide primary
health care on the four named atolls and secondary and tertiary
care at Kwajalein or in Honolulu.
Mr. Weisgall offered a suggestion that perhaps an additional
outline of a plan was needed, i.e., a plan that would provide
special primary care on the “affected atolls" and secondary
and tertiary care for these residents at the most feasible
locations but not to provide "special primary care" for representatives of the affected peoples all over the Marshalls.
In brief, there would be designated areas where this special
care would be available to the "affected people".
He also
urged the Federal agencies concerned to address the pending
problem of "other affected atolls" in any preliminary report
to Congress.
This aspect must be addressed since any special
health care program designed for the peoples of the four atolls
might later have to be expanded to “other affected atolls".
Ms. Falender (Rep., Government of Marshall Islands) would like
to see in advance any report that would be sent to Congress.
Is this feasible?
Mrs. Van Cleve (TIA) pointed out that in view of the time
constraints, anything that would be submitted to Congress
obviously would be preliminary in nature.
She noted also that
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