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Israeli scientist says Chernobyl is warning by Hugh Or gel TEL AVIV (JTA) — Dr. Yair Reisner, the Weizmann Institute biophysicist who Hew to the Soviet Union to help Russian doctors treat victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, returned from Moscow Sunday night with a grim prognosis for those who suffered radiation poisoning and a sober warning that the Western coun tries are no better equipped than the Soviet Union to cope with the medical casualties of nuclear accidents. Reisner, who volunteered his expertise in bone marrow and cell sorting techniques after the Soviets finally made known the full extent of the Chernobyl disaster last month, also reported that he entered the USSR with his Israeli passport without a Soviet visa. He said he was met at Moscow airport by Ministry of Health officials who issued him a visa on the spot, well aware that he is an Israeli. Reisner said that of the 299 per sons directly affected by the acci dent at the Chernobyl nuclear power station—technicians, fire-fighters and guards who were inside the building—35 were severely ill with radiation poisoning. But bone marrow transplants could be performed on only 19 and another six victims were beyond treatment, he said. Others were not believed to be in urgent need of transplants. For those who received them, it will not be known for another three weeks whether the procedure was successful, he said. The 38-year-old Israel-born scientist said at a press conference here that the Israeli authorities knewofhistripto Moscow to take part in health rescue work together with a small team of American doctors. He had been invited by Or Robert Gale, an American bone-marrow surgeon who plans to return to Moscow' later this week to check on the results. Reisner said he had no plans to return. He said he and the Americans worked with a Soviet woman doc tor who was well acquainted with his marrow separation and tissue transplant techniques from read ing about them in international medical and scientific publications. He said the team brought 16 crates of equipment to Moscow and he was able to set up his laboratory within 24 hours of his arrival. Reisner and his American col leagues had warm praise for the Soviet medical team they worked with at Moscow Hospital No. 6. But according to Reisner, mod ern medical facilities have some way to go to fully meet the demands of potential nuclear accidents in the future. “No countries in the West are really prepared for such accidents.” The Southern Israelite The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry 'Since 1925' Vol. LXII Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, May 23, 1986 No. 21 Mideast tensions ease as Israel, Syria cool it by Yaacov Ben Yosef Special to The Southern Israelite JERUSALEM—Tensions be tween Israel and Syria have eased this week, with Prime Minister Shimon Peres saying that he did not foresee war with Damascus. Meanwhile, Minister Without Portfolio Ezer Weizman has been in Washington to seek help in resolving the continuing Taba problem with Egypt. Israeli and Egyptian officials began another round of talks in Herzylia Monday; both sides op timistically suggested this might be the last round before the sticky issue is turned over to arbitration. Israel and Egypt remain at odds over the sandy strip of Red Sea beach in Sinai called Taba. All week long the war scare between Israel and Syria kept offi cials in Jerusalem nervous. Israel made public last week that Syria had built artillary emplacements just north of the security zone in south Lebanon. The Syrian em placements were in an area evacu ated by Israel last year; Israel had warned the Syrians to stay out of that region. Israeli officials grew concerned that Syria might decide to man those emplacements either to en courage terrorism against Israel’s northern settlements or as a pre lude to a major attack against Israel. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the Cabinet Sunday that Syrian army engineering units continue to work on those emplacements. But, finally over the weekend Syrian President Hafez el-Assad noted in interviews that tension between Israel and Syria has appreciably decreased in the past See Tension, page 24. Improving quality of life Spina bifida victims to benefit from joint projects by Vida Goldgar SSC was sought because it is the United States' largest rehabilita tion facility dedicated to the treat ment of spinal cord injury and dis ease and in 1985 launched a spina bifida program that teaches in creased independence and sociali zation skills. David Sarnat, Judy Reinoehl, Lauren Felder Bacon and David F. Apple Jr. after press conference. A new cooperative relationship between Atlanta’s Shepherd Spi nal Center and the Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem is expected to con tribute significantly to an improved quality of life for children and young adults born with spina bif ida. Alyn Hospital is Israel’s only children’s orthopedic/ rehabilitation hospital. The program was announced last Friday at a press conference at the Shepherd Spinal Center less than 48 hours after the return of an SSC medical team and David I. Sarnat, executive director of the Atlanta Jewish Federation, from meetings in Israel with Alyn staff members. Dr. David F. Apple Jr., an or thopedic surgeon and SSC’s medi cal director, said, “The goal of this joint endeavor is to promote coop eration between nations in a pro ject that we hope will benefit child ren who have spina bifida.” Other Shepherd staff members who made the trip were: Lauren Felder Bacon, R.N., M.N., director of patient services; Judy Reinoehl, R.N., M.N., director of nursing; and Barbara Leidheiser, T.R.S., direc tor of recreation therapy. The joint program, which was initiated by the Atlanta Jewish Federation, had its beginnings at a bilateral conference between the United States and Israel held in 1983 at Temple University in Phi ladelphia. “One result of that con ference was a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in January 1984 between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the state of Israel,” Sar nat said, adding that the agree ment’s aim was “the delivery of human services and developing cooperative programs that would share information.” One of the areas that was identified initially, Sarnat explained, was that of developmental disabilities. “The facilitating agency was the Council of Jewish Federations (the umbrella organization of Jewish Federations throughout the United States and Canada), which made the Atlanta Jewish Federation aware of the program.” Discussions with peo ple involved at the Shepherd Spi nal Center revealed SSC’s interest in spina bifida services and the connection was made with Alyn, a facility noted for its works in the spina bifida field. Spina bifida is a birth defect in which the lower end of the spinal column is open because vertebrae have failed to develop around the spinal cord. This causes a lump on the spine and permanent damage to the spinal cord and nerves, with varying degrees of paralysis in the lower extremities resulting. In the United States alone, more than 11,000 children each year are born with spina bifida. In Georgia, the rate is 1.7 per thousand births and it is slightly higher in Israel. Sarnat said the participation of Dr. Apple said, "After lengthy discussions with Dr. Shirley Meyer (Alyn Hospital’s medical director) and her staff, several areas were identified where we thought there would be mutual opportunity to help each other.” The direction in care at the two facilities is quite different, he says. “In Israel, many of the children are institutionalized at Alyn. Here they are brought up at home. We have different ways of managing the same problem and we feel we can learn from each other and come up with a combination program w hich takes the best of both and provides a good adult spina bifida program." Sarnat said. “By developing a formal exchange program on re search and the administration of spina bifida programs and ser vices, these two leading facilities can develop a model for spina bif ida services that can be adapted for use throughout the world.” What has made such informa tion especially important has been the progress in treatment of the See Spina Bifida, page 24. r'MTij 1 TV/