Galamsey threatens child health, causes birth defects and reproductive issues - Pathologist warns

Accra, Ghana - A leading pathologist and researcher, Prof. Dr. Paul Osei Sampene, has sounded a dire warning on the catastrophic impact of illegal mining (galamsey) on child development and reproductive health.

In an interview on Channel One TV's Point of View, Prof. Dr. Osei Sampene revealed that galamsey's toxic legacy can cause child deformities during birth and damage to both mothers' and fathers' reproductive health. This is due to the contamination of food, water, and air with heavy metals, which accumulate in the body and harm the mother's ovaries and the father's semen, potentially deforming fetuses.

The Paediatric Society of Ghana echoes Prof. Dr. Osei Sampene's concerns, citing severe health implications for children, including cognitive deficits, poor speech development, and congenital malformations.

“We are looking at water, we are looking at the air we breathe and the food that we eat.  So all these three means by which the pollutants find themselves can either, thus by eating or inhale by breathing it or sometimes by drinking it from our water bodies. These are the vehicles in which the heavy metals can find themselves in the body.”

“So, if unfortunately, a mother or probably a father has this bioaccumulation of these heavy metals, it can affect the semen and sometimes the ovaries of the mother and then if that thing does not happen, as to whether it affects the mother and that of the father to give birth or cause formation of a foetus, then if the mother for some reasons inhale or eat contaminated food or water or inhale some of these things, it will then find their way into the placenta which will eventually go into the baby and form many deformities,'' he added.

Galamsey's far-reaching consequences extend beyond health, resulting in environmental degradation and economic losses.

The practice has destroyed forests, river bodies, and farmlands, contaminating major rivers and reducing cocoa production to 429,323 tonnes, less than 55% of the seasonal output.

Source :Lead News Online