April 8, 2024. 6:14am
The rates of skin pathologies and genital infections among female and paediatric patients have skyrocketed, the investigation found…
Children who live in close proximity to cobalt mining communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are being negatively impacted by the cobalt rush, according to a recent report.
An investigation published by the UK-based human rights group Rights & Accountability in Development (RAID) and the Kinshasa-based NGO Afrewatch, revealed that children are still severely affected by ongoing water pollution, and they have contracted diseases that cause them to suffer from itchiness, rashes, eye irritations, coughing, and diarrhoea, all of which they associate with children playing or coming into contact with water.
According to the 110-page report cited by The Colonist Report, community rivers are also polluted, endangering fishermen and children who swim in them.
One woman, Adele, told RAID and Afrewatch, “My children swim in the water of the [Luakusha] river and the [Kando] lake.” They play with this water and develop chronic coughing. I’m sure it’s the water and not the air because we are surrounded by water and it’s impossible to forbid children from playing in the water. Even if we forbid them, I am sure they are sick because they are in the water all the time.”
The rates of skin pathologies and genital infections among female and paediatric patients have skyrocketed, according to a paediatrician who has been keeping track of patients’ data since 2016.
Cobalt is used in the production of a variety of products, including lithium-ion batteries, and magnetic, wear-resistant, and high-strength alloys, and the transition to green energy has increased demand.
The investigation also showed that the region’s industrial mining operations have an impact on women’s reproductive health in the towns and villages. The symptoms include irregular menstruation, urogenital infections, vaginal mycoses and warts, more frequent miscarriages, and, in some cases, birth defects, all of which are linked to their use of contaminated surface and well water.
The report, compiled over 19 months, includes interviews with 144 residents from 25 villages and towns near cobalt and copper mines run by European and Chinese mining companies. Concerns about their family members’ reproductive health were voiced by 56% of the interviewees.
Medical professionals report an increase in the number of women experiencing infertility, urinary tract infections, and vaginal infections. However, due to the polluted environment in which their patients live, the report states that they are unable to prescribe long-term, effective solutions.
In Kolwezi, medical professionals have seen a startling rise in illness rates over the past five to ten years, which they link to the area’s mining boom, according to the report. Gynaecological and reproductive issues were the most common complaints seen by health practitioners.
The report also reveals that, while mining companies profit from the minerals mined from communities, residents’ incomes have continued to fall as farmers and fishermen have seen their sources of livelihood polluted by miners.
In February, The Colonist Report Africa published an investigation by Oxpeckers Environmental Investigative Journalism into the negative effects of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which revealed how residents lost their ancestral homes to mining companies.
Edited by Kevin Woke
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