TANZANIA is likely to participate at the first Conference of the Parties (COP1) of the Minamata Convention as observers.
The conference is confirmed to take
place from 24 to 29 September this year at the International Conference
Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
For Tanzania to participate, it has to
ratify the Convention 90 days before the conference date. Latest
information indicates that out of 128 countries that signed the
Convention, only 55 have ratified it.
Minamata Convention is the global treaty
that aims to protect human health and environment from adverse effects
of mercury. Tanzania is a signatory to the Convention since October
2013. Speaking to the ‘Sunday News’ yesterday, Senior Environmental
Officer in the Vice President’s Office, Mr Isaria Mangalili said
Tanzania was committed to ratifying the Convention.
“It is true we haven’t ratified the
Convention, but the process is at an advanced stage. Even if we don’t
beat the deadline before the first conference (COP1) we may not miss
much from the meeting,” he said.
Mr Mangalili admitted that use of
mercury was indeed hazardous to human health and environment, which is
why Tanzania showed its commitment since 2013 by signing the Convention.
Efforts to reach the Minister in the Vice President’s Office
(Environment) January Makamba proved futile as he was reported to be in
Butiama, Mara region for the World Environment Day.
Silvan Mng’anya, Principal Programme
Officer- AGENDA and Anglophone Africa IPEN Regional Coordinator, a Non-
Governmental Organisation that also deals with environmental issues,
told this paper that failure to ratify the Convention in time will deny
Tanzania an opportunity to participate in decision making during the
conference. In addition, he said in the longer run the nation will be
left out if there were technical and financial assistance targeted for
Parties (countries that have ratified).
Mercury has been finding its way into
the soil through mining mainly by artisanal miners and uncontrolled
disposal of some medical and electronic equipment. Later, the hazardous
metal finds its way into water bodies, from which the public get fish
for consumption.
In the health sector, a campaign is
going on to phase out the use of dental filling materials that contain
mercury (dental amalgam). The campaign, which is in line with the
objectives of Minamata Convention, focuses on phasing out the use of
dental amalgam that is used as a filling material on affected teeth.
Scientists state that dental amalgam is a dangerous filling material
because it is 50 per cent mercury.
In April this year, stakeholders in oral
and dental health sector met in Dar es Salaam under the coordination of
AGENDA, during which they unanimously called upon the government to
prepare a curricular for dental schools to enhance training on the use
of mercury –free dental filling materials.
However, during the meeting specialists
revealed that the public had nothing to worry about because there were
other methods of treating the affected teeth and that students in
colleges were being trained on how to apply them. According to
scientists, mercury has serious health hazards on nervous,
cardiovascular, kidney, immunity and digestion systems.
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