FG, UNICEF, USAID to combat lead poisoning
By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA – THE Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake has disclosed plans by the Federal Government to collaborate with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and United States Agency for International Development, USAID, to combat lead poisoning in Nigeria.
Alake made this known in a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori, while explaining that the campaign against lead poisoning became imperative to safeguard the lives of host communities.
According to the statement, reviewing the exhibition on the lead campaign at the Lead-Free Future event organised by UNICEF and USAID on the sidelines of the on-going United Nations General Assembly 79, UNGA 79, the Minister disclosed plans to procure additional equipment for the detection of lead in communities plagued by lead poisoning.
He also called for more advocacy and enlightenment on the deadly impact of lead poisoning to communities around areas gold is being mined and other minerals, and added that cleaning up lead from communities will restore child and maternal health.
Meanwhile, he (Alake) emphasised the need for miners to reduce use of lead in the process of local value addition, which is being championed by the Ministry.
The USAID representative, Dr Casey Bartrem appreciated the commitment of the Minister, showing rock samples retrieved from Zamfara State in Nigeria during the clean-up that followed a lead poisoning incident.
Bartrem also said the USAID hoped to collaborate with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development lead reduction in mineral extraction and processing.
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