Understanding health impacts around large mines in Africa

Mining for natural resources benefits local communities, e.g. through improved infrastructure, but it also affects the health of people living close-by. Air and water pollution, increased traffic accidents, and small-scale earthquakes cause damage to lives and homes.

An international study team has collected qualitative and quantitative data in mining areas in four African countries. This includes information on current institutional and regulatory setups, an evaluation of how mining affects health-related SDG targets, and an assessment of health systems and socioeconomic factors at district level. With findings from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania, the public health of affected communities can now be investigated more systematically and feed into policymaking to better balance the positive and negative impacts of mining.

This video-clip was produced as part of ther4d programme Digital Storytellers synthesis project. Its contents were filmed and selected by Andrea Leuenberger and Dominik Dietler from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland, in collaboration with local partners in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Mozambique. The digital storytelling process was accompanied and supported byPaitití Lab.Watch on YouTube.