Helping locals with the lead poisoning outbreak in Nigeria will involve a massive cleanup and education program, says an Australian nurse working for an international aid organization.
“A continued coordinated, large-scale emergency response is needed, to ensure that the contaminated villages are cleaned up, that the most vulnerable receive urgent treatment, and that effective health education messages are passed to prevent recontamination of living areas,” said Australian Lauren Cooney, the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Boarders (MSF), in Nigeria.
The outbreak of lead poisoning in remote villages in northwest Nigeria has already killed more than 160 villagers. The majority of the deaths have been children aged 5 or under.
MSF, the international organization for medical humanitarian aid, is working in partnership with heath authorities in Nigeria.
They say the crisis is a result of illegal gold mining, in which local villagers extract gold from mined ore containing the lead. Dust forms after villagers crush and dry the ore in their huts. The fact that children play near soil dumped after the extraction, has also contributed to the large number of poisonings.
Lead poisoning can cause loss of appetite, renal damage, and in more serious cases loss of consciousness, convulsions, and even death.
MSF says mining practices such as these have been confirmed in two villages, with four others also suspected of contamination.
As many as 10,000 people may have been affected, the aid organization reported, with children 5 years and younger particularly vulnerable due to that age being a crucial stage in their development, and low body weight.
“This is an unprecedented and tragic situation—in one village, 30 percent of the children under 5 have died in the past year,” said Cooney.
“There needs to be a concerted health education program aimed at behavioral change to also prevent recontamination at these sites,” said Cooney.
Cooney said anyone exposed to the soil and water wells where dust has been leaked, can be affected and international environment agencies are endeavoring to clean up the contamination.
“It really needs to happen quite quickly, but its not that easy,” she said. “That means removing all the contaminated soil from these areas and then eventually replacing it with clean soil or possibly cement on the floors of the houses.”
MSF has set up a treatment centre safely away from the contaminated zone. A second treatment centre is also to be established to further help children and affected villagers along with information campaigns to inform the population of the risks of illegal gold extraction.
The outbreak of lead poisoning in remote villages in northwest Nigeria has already killed more than 160 villagers. The majority of the deaths have been children aged 5 or under.
MSF, the international organization for medical humanitarian aid, is working in partnership with heath authorities in Nigeria.
They say the crisis is a result of illegal gold mining, in which local villagers extract gold from mined ore containing the lead. Dust forms after villagers crush and dry the ore in their huts. The fact that children play near soil dumped after the extraction, has also contributed to the large number of poisonings.
Lead poisoning can cause loss of appetite, renal damage, and in more serious cases loss of consciousness, convulsions, and even death.
MSF says mining practices such as these have been confirmed in two villages, with four others also suspected of contamination.
As many as 10,000 people may have been affected, the aid organization reported, with children 5 years and younger particularly vulnerable due to that age being a crucial stage in their development, and low body weight.
“This is an unprecedented and tragic situation—in one village, 30 percent of the children under 5 have died in the past year,” said Cooney.
“There needs to be a concerted health education program aimed at behavioral change to also prevent recontamination at these sites,” said Cooney.
Cooney said anyone exposed to the soil and water wells where dust has been leaked, can be affected and international environment agencies are endeavoring to clean up the contamination.
“It really needs to happen quite quickly, but its not that easy,” she said. “That means removing all the contaminated soil from these areas and then eventually replacing it with clean soil or possibly cement on the floors of the houses.”
MSF has set up a treatment centre safely away from the contaminated zone. A second treatment centre is also to be established to further help children and affected villagers along with information campaigns to inform the population of the risks of illegal gold extraction.
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