BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/11/2007

Western, Belarus relationship turns 12

The University of Western Ontario celebrates its long-standing medical and dental exchange program with the country of Belarus on Wednesday, November 21 as the transatlantic collaboration enters it 12th year.

In April 1986, Belarus - an Eastern European nation with a population approaching 10 million people - suffered widespread health problems as a result of the infamous Chernobyl disaster.

The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1992 dealt Belarus a severe setback to its health care system, and along with industrial pollution, dietary imbalance, and the social stress that impaired general health, the incidence of heart disease became especially high.

In 1995, Dr. Gerald Z. Wright, Professor Emeritus at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, started a pilot project at the children's dental clinic in Minsk. Under Wright's direction, Western has annually sent medical specialists to Belarus to deliver lectures and demonstrations, consult with doctors and patients, and perform procedures.

In turn, many Belarusian dentists and doctors have visited Western over the years in order to study current dental and medical practices. For the past several years, the trips have been made possible by the London Chapter of the Canadian Relief Fund for Chernobyl Victims in Belarus.

As a highlight of Western's Belarus Day, an episode of a television program entitled, Hello Doctor, which originally aired nationwide in Belarus on June 10, 2007, will be shown. The presentation is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in Room 224A, University College and has been subtitled into English by Aaron Van Domelen of Western's Instructional Technology Resource Centre.

Hello Doctor is a popular Belarusian television series, hosted by a physician, which promotes better health. The June 10th episode features a segment with Western's medical team of Dr. Patrick J. Teefy and nurses Heather Hern and Karen Geier conducting an interventional cardiology procedure at Hospital No. 1 in Minsk.

Following the screening, there will be comments by Dr. Teefy on medical conditions in Belarus and by Sandra Hobson, School of Occupational Therapy, who has made eight trips to Belarus since the program's inception, and who will offer commentary on introducing modern methods of Occupational Therapy to the Belarusians.

Following lunch, Pavel M. Pustavoi, councilor at the Belarusian Embassy in Ottawa, specializing in science and technology, will speak to the group in Michael's Garden, Room 3340, Somerville House.

"The University's medical and dental ties with Belarus go back more than a decade and provide us with yet another example of Western's professors lending their expertise in the field in an effort to improve our world," says Ted Hewitt, Western's Vice-President (Research & International Relations).

Source:

http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/western,_belarus_relationship_turns_12_20071120440600/