|
Title |
UNODC Brazil promoted the establishment of a Comprehensive Health Care for victims of mercury poisoning in mining operations |
|
Month/Date |
23 and 24 May 2024 |
|
Location/Office |
Brasilia, Brazil |
|
Beneficiaries |
Government, Civil Society, people impacted by mercury applied in gold mining and the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) |
|
Funding source |
U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (JTIP/PEMS) |
|
Partners |
Representatives from the Ministry of Health's Indigenous Health Secretariat (SESAI), Environmental Surveillance Secretariat (SVSA) and Specialized Health Care Secretariat (SAES); the Government of Pará's Public Health Secretariat (SEPAS) and Indigenous Peoples Secretariat (SEPI); the Rio Tapajós Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI); World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF); researchers from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Evandro Chagas Institute, the Iepé Institute, the Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA), the Federal University of Pará (UFPA); and medical specialists who work directly with the issue in the region. |
|
SDGs |
16 and 17 |
STORY
UNODC Brazil promotes the establishment of Comprehensive Health Care for victims of mercury poisoning in mining operations within the Amazon Rainforest
Brasilia, 23 and 24 May 2024. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brazil welcomed authorities and experts in overall and specialised indigenous health for a technical meeting to discuss the establishment of Comprehensive Health Care for people impacted by mercury used in gold mining within the Tapajós River Basin, a region located in the Brazilian state of Pará, within the Amazon Rainforest.
This activity falls under the protection pillar of the Tapajós Project, an initiative led by UNODC Brazil that is aimed at reducing human trafficking in the gold mining industry. Discussions were supported by extensive technical research conducted by UNODC in the Tapajós River Basin, which pointed to health issues prevalent in workers involved in mining activities, as well as in indigenous and non-indigenous communities affected by illegal mining.
Small-scale gold mining relies on mercury as a cost-effective and straightforward method to extract gold, in order to eliminate most of its impurities. However, mercury used in gold mines contaminates rivers and severely impacts the health of indigenous people of the Munduruku ethnic group, riverside dwellers and inhabitants of municipalities such as Itaituba and Jacareacanga, located in the Brazilian Amazon.
Held in Brasilia (DF), with the support of the Ministry of Health's Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI), the technical meeting discussed the health services available, and the processes needed to enable diagnoses, preventive measures, specialised treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for victims of mercury poisoning.
The participants drew up a technical and methodological proposal to discuss terms, protocols for identifying cases, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, flows, and other procedures needed to establish a dedicated and comprehensive healthcare for people affected by mercury.
The complete web story in Portuguese is available here.
