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October 8, 1996 For Immediate Release

University of Northern British Columbia History professor Aileen Espiritu has received a $100,000 grant from the Gorbachev Foundation to assess the health problems of aboriginal peoples in Siberia, and implement programs to foster improvement.

The research program will be undertaken over a three-year period and explore the relationship between industrialization, environmental degradation, and health. Some statistics:

• Between 1992 and 1993, incidence of measles in Russia increased 302%, diptheria increased 296%, and incidence of whooping cough rose 64%.
• Between 1990 and 1994, the rate of tuberculosis infection in children rose 62%. The rate of infection has been rising quickest in the eastern part of Siberia where Prof. Espiritu will be conducting much of her research.

Poor health care facilities, environmental problems, and management of the health care system in the former Soviet Union have exacerbated many of the problems. "In the region I propose to study, for example, the local contention by native villagers is that pollution of their local river and waterways has caused cerebral palsy-like symptoms in many residents," says Prof. Espiritu. "The major aim of the project is to determine the health needs of native villagers, and promote improvement by establishing local planning mechanisms."

They will be going to Siberia about eight times.

The Gorbachev Foundation is administered through the University of Calgary.