Public health practitioners call for national agenda on ‘galamsey’

Public health practitioners are calling on the government and the Ministry of Health to institute a public health agenda on illegal mining commonly known as galamsey to extensively look into all the dimensions of its impact on public health.

According to the experts, a research-based approach to galamsey and its related impact on health and the environment is the surest way of addressing the dangers the menace poses.

Various religious and professional bodies over the past few weeks have been calling on the government to temporarily ban all forms of mining until a solution is found.

The public health practitioners are also of the view that equipping them with materials on the dangers of galamsey can also go a long way in getting the public along on the ways to support the fight against the menace.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary launch of Ensign Global College, Professor Daniel Ansong, who is also a pediatrician, indicated that heavy metal exposure from galamsey activities poses serious health risks to both adults and children and called for enhanced training for public health practitioners to tackle the health dangers.

“We need to be training public health professionals who can be able to work and find out problems that galamsey is associated with. Both right from childhood to adulthood, exposure to certain heavy chemicals can harm the human being and therefore as a public health institution, it will be good for them to have initiatives into training and building capacities for their professionals to be able to conduct scientific research into the areas of illegal mining.

“There is a need for us to have a public health agenda on the galamsey or the illegal mining issues to look at all the dimensions of its impact on public health and therefore, any call to look at its impact is very important.”