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Jewish agencies

reach out to

Russians

unaccustomed

to America's

system of

health care.

hen Sarra Badalova desper-
ately needed medical help in
the former Soviet republic
of Georgia, she couldn't place
an emergency call to doctors
at the nearest hospital.
The phones in Georgia
didn't work.
When Ms. Badalova, with
debilitating pain in her feet
and ankles, finally made it to
a health-care facility, physi-
cians responded with familiar
regrets.
No one really knew what was
wrong. No one really knew what to do. No
one had much equipment or medicine any-
way.
Health care in the former Soviet Union
is in a chronic state of malaise due to eco-
nomic and political chaos, say immigrants
like the 55-year-old Ms. Badalova.
The system was never good, they recall,
but it has taken a turn for the worse as the
newly independent republics fight amongst
themselves.
"It's like a war," she remarks.
The dearth of water, electricity, phones
and medicine — along with rampant anti-
Semitism — impelled Ms. Badalova to
leave Georgia and head for the United
States, where three of her four children live.

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

Different

W011111

Top: Khana S: "Here, I
feel like a princess."

Left: Sarra Badalova:
"I want to say thank-
you for all the Jewish
community has
done."

Right: JFS
Resettlement Service
Coordinator and
Translator Bronya
Spektor: "In my
opinion, Russian
doctors are heroes if
they can work in those
conditions."

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With her, she brought news about the
unhealthy state of affairs in the former So-
viet Union. Her message, and similar sto-
ries from other immigrants, have raised
red flags among professionals in the Jew-
ish communal world.
Agency workers have responded with
counseling, along with screenings and no-
cost care at Sinai Hospital. In the latest at-
tempt to address health issues within metro
Detroit's population of new Americans,
Sinai's Guild and Jewish Family Service
will sponsor 'The New American Woman,
Healthy Today, Healthy Tomorrow."
The program, to begin at the Jimmy
Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center
in Oak Park on Sunday, April 28, at 11:45
a.m., will include a tour of Sinai Hospital,
a lecture by two women doctors, as well as
lunch.
In addition to acquainting female im-
migrants with health care, American-style,
sponsors of the afternoon hope to get more
in touch about ailments and misconcep-
tions among one of the Jewish communi-
ty's most vulnerable groups.
More and more, resettlement agents at
the Jewish Family Service are recognizing
disease among members of the population
they help. Rachel Yoskowitz is the director
of resettlement at the Jewish Family Ser-
vice. A sobering aspect of her job is meet-
ing new Americans with cancer, high blood
pressure, heart disease and other medical
problems, untreated or incorrectly treated
by doctors in the former Soviet Union.
Nearly 500 new Americans arrived in
Detroit during 1995. Ms. Yoskowitz says
they showed a higher incidence rate of dis-
ease compared to Russian immigrants who
resettled here only a few years
ago.
"We're not seeing huge dif-
ferences in age, but we're see-
ing changes in their health
status," she explains.
The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear
explosion is a sobering culprit.
Radiation affected more than
3.2 million Ukrainians. Expo-
sure has killed an estimated
125,000 people.
Dr. Andrea Eisenberg, an
obstetrician/gynecologist in
Farmington Hills, says she
sees a lot of cancer among the
local immigrant population.
The Chernobyl disaster's
long-term fallout is becoming
more evident as time goes by,
giving malignancies
the chance to develop,
experts say.
Another source of
concern for American
physicians who treat
newcomers is the over-
all Russian system of
health care, before and
after the fall of the
Communist regime.
Many Russians
have come to the Unit-
ed States with little
concept of preventative
medicine. For them,
the idea has always
been: Don't get
checked unless you're

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Chernobyl Challenge:
A Request For Blood

On Sunday, April 21, there will be two
blood drives in remembrance of the 1986
Chernobyl disaster.
Sponsored by the Red Cross and sev-
eral concerned groups throughout south-
eastern Michigan, they will take place
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ukrain-
ian Cultural. Center, 26601 Ryan Road
m Warren.
Donors may also give blood from 9
am. to 3 p.m. at the St, Michael -Ukrain-
ian Catholic Church, 6320 Chase Road
in Dearborn.
You must be at least 17 years old,
weigh at least 110 pounds and be in over-
all good health. The donation process
takes a little more than an hour, which
includes registration, giving a brief med-
ical history, and having your pulse, tem-
perature, blood pressure and hemoglobin
checked. The actual donation takes
about 10 minutes and is relatively pain-
less. For more information., call Roman
Zubar at (313)582-0439.

sick. By the same token, many immigrants
stop taking medicine if they're feeling OK
But attitudes need to change, local pro-
fessionals insist.
Dr. Marc Feldman, director of the pri-
mary-care center at Sinai Hospital, treats
new Americans on a regular basis. Al-
though he has no hard data to confirm that
Russians coming to the States are getting
sicker, year by year, he affirms that cul-
tural barriers among immigrant popula-
tions run deep, impeding their access to
medical help.
Screenings, generally unknown in the
former republics, must be explained to new
Americans. Persuading them to get rid of
their old medications is yet another chal-
lenge.
"There's a lot of folk medicine," Dr. Feld-
man says.
The valeria root, for instance.
`They take it for everything. Chest pain,
anxiety, high-blood pressure. I don't see
much evidence that it's useful," he says.
But, when patients simply won't relin-
quish their valeria root, the doctor usually
concedes — so long as they comply with his
prescription, as well.
Trouble is, compliance presents yet an-
other dilemma. Not unlike Americans, pa-
tients from the former Soviet Union believe
they can shelve their prescriptions as soon
as their symptoms disappear.
Not true, doctors say.
There's an underlying issue reinforcing
a pattern of medical noncompliance be-
havior among immigrants: scarcity. In the
former Soviet Union, patients took pills gin-
gerly because there weren't always enough

DIFFERENT WORLD page 62