Following the devastation of Japan’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the nation is fighting to maintain a semblance of stability and order as ominous newspaper headlines warn of a potential meltdown at the Fukushima plants. While the actual health threat as far as radiation exposure remains unclear, what is certain is that millions of Japanese victims have been injured, suffering lacerations, crush wounds and trauma and are now threatened with the prospect of disease spread by contaminated water. As an article in the Los Angeles Times points out, public health officials must now focus their efforts on eliminating the cross-contamination of treated water by waste water, after tap-water distribution systems were overwhelmed or contaminated by the ruinous effects of Mother Nature.
ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross advises that public health resources, both financial and intellectual, should not be overly diverted to the concerns of a potential nuclear problem when faced with the more pressing problem of trauma. “While the situation in the nuclear facilities is still in flux, public health authorities should focus on the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of injured or displaced earthquake and tsunami victims.”
