Experience of thyroid gland status screening in postchernobyl period.

The main results of thirty-year period of repeated screening programs and observational studies in contaminated and non-contaminated regions of Belarus are analyzed. The possible reasons of discrepant and contradictory data about the consequences of Chernobyl catastrophe delivered by different study groups during early period after the accident are discussed. High incidence of thyroid nodular disease and cancer in children and adolescence after the catastrophe are described. The research shows high effectiveness of screening in early diagnosis thyroid disorders and radiation-induced thyroid cancer in different regions of Belarus and in various time points.