Dr Helen Caldicott’s call to the mothers at Roxby Downs Wednesday 18 July
Dear mothers, fathers and grandmothers of Roxby, I am a paediatrician and I have worked for years treating children with cystic fibrosis, the most common fatal genetic disease of childhood. I am deeply concerned and committed to the well-being of our children and grandchildren. That is why I plan to come to Roxby on the afternoon of July 18th to speak at a public meeting about the special vulnerability that babies and children have to radiation exposure.
Because their cells are rapidly dividing as they grow, they are 10 to 20 times more apt to develop cancer if exposed to radioactive materials in the dust and the air and little girls happen to be twice as vulnerable as little boys. Also women
are twice a sensitive than men – we do not know why.
Living in Roxby adjacent to the uranium mining poses special risks to children and I will explain why when you attend the meeting.
I am also concerned about the health of the miners themselves as their bodies are constantly being exposed to radiation from the uranium ore face and also they are inevitably breathing in radioactive gases even if the mine is well ventilated. Also the badges they wear do not measure the deadly alpha radiation that they swallow and inhale.
I will describe how cancer is caused by radiation exposure, how long it takes to develop and what we as doctors can or cannot do about it.
I addressed a similar meeting years ago at the Mary Kathleen uranium mine in Queensland, where at first the people were suspicious, but after I explained the dangers of uranium mining and radiation the people were immensely grateful and lined up in queues to ask me questions. As a deeply concerned doctor I therefore invite you to attend this meeting. Wednesday July 18th from 1-3pm at the Oasis Motor Inn.
Very sincerely,
Helen Caldicott MD
Dr Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 1961. She founded the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital in 1975 and subsequently was an instructor in pediatrics at the world leading Harvard Medical School in America and was on the staff of the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. She
has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for humanity.
No comments yet.
Antinuclear 
Leave a Reply