– on vulnerable members of mining communities
THE Ministry of Health and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) yesterday signed an agreement that will see $12M being spent to increase understanding of health implications resulting from occupational exposure to mercury and on vulnerable members of mining communities. WWF Country Manager, Dr. Patrick Williams, said this undertaking will consolidate previous efforts, through prior studies and advance moves to decisive actions relative to policymaking.
He spoke at a media briefing, in Herdmanston Lodge, Lamaha Street, Georgetown, where WWF and Health Ministry stakeholders, including the Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, were gathered.
The project falls under WWF’s gold mining pollution abatement component of the Guianas Sustainable Natural Resource Management Project 2007 – 2011 and its objectives are:
* to assess the level and effects of mercury amongst small to medium scale gold miners, gold traders and gold jewelers, as well as the mining communities;

* to attempt to build clinical capacity among medical practitioners, as it relates to the health implications of mercury use, recognising signs and symptoms of mercury toxicity and the appropriate treatment procedures;

* to enhanced awareness among small to medium scale gold miners, community members and other important groups to the potential negative impacts of mercury on humans and precautionary measures to minimise them, and
*  to build capacity, relative to infrastructure, in the health sector to assess the levels of mercury in humans and the environment.
DONATED
Concerning the last, a cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometer is expected to be donated to the National Reference Laboratory, for use to assess the level of mercury in persons and training on its proper utilisation will be provided to the medical technologists.
Williams observed that there is suspicion about impact and it is anticipated that this new initiative will solidify it.
Regional Gold Mining Pollutant Abatement Coordinator, Mr. Rickford Vieira, added that this venture goes a step further and builds on the studies that have already been done.
According to him, over the past 15 years, for control, mercury assessments were carried out in gold mining as well as in non-gold mining areas.
Two such were supported by WWF Guianas in Upper Mazaruni and North West districts and they established that mercury was present in the biophysical environment in a number of mining areas.
In 2000, the Upper Mazaruni study, conducted by the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) of the University of Guyana (UG), in collaboration with WWF Guianas, concluded that there was strong, positive correlation between the occurrence of mercury in the environment and high concentrations of it among gold mining and some neighbouring communities.
Invited to comment, Director of the Environmental Health Unit in the Health Ministry, Dr. Ashok Sookdeo maintained that, relative to mercury, there is a linkage between the environment and human health.
He said the proposal for this work was developed by his unit and reflects a more targeted approach.
Sookdeo said this process started early last year when the WWF approached the Ministry of Health with the objective of addressing the impact of mercury on human health.
He said it is an important step for the Ministry.
STUDIES
Ramsammy, in his address, said while several studies in Guyana have targeted understanding the impact of mercury on human health, this country is not in a good enough position to deal completely with the problems in the local setting.
Rather, he said it is making progress in gathering data to make a conclusion on the presence and impact of mercury on health locally.
“It is not definite data yet but a development of footprints,” Ramsammy said.
He said, once mapped and understood, Guyana will be able to address the health impact of mercury.
Ramsammy said it is laudable that public awareness is given some emphasis because there are many areas of exposure that the average person should recognise.
“People play with mercury recklessly,” he declared.
Ramsammy, however, acknowledged the fact that mercury is used in products that complement the quality of life.
He noted, though, that this is all the more reason for people to be cognisant of the dangers mercury poses.
Ramsammy also welcomed the infrastructural development component of the project and said the enhanced laboratory capacity, through the donation of the cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometer, will facilitate heavy metal toxicity analysis.
That is a genuine health sector strengthening programme as it addresses not only a study of mercury impact but public awareness and capacity building, too.
He agreed the $12M grant will go a long way and that, with new revelations, new policies and regulations will need to be drafted.
Ramsammy said, in developing countries, such mechanisms are already in place and, for like Guyana, enforcement has been lacking because of insufficient data.
Commenting on the number of mercury toxicity cases, he said many are persons who work with jewellery and are exposed on a daily basis.
Inappropriate working conditions, lack of the relevant protective gear and the fact that jewellers operate in enclosed spaces are reasons for the victims being affected.