Prehospital Emergencies in Illegal Gold Mining Sites in French Guiana

Egmann, Gérald; Tattevin, Pierre; Palancade, Renaud; Nacher, Matthieu

doi:10.1016/j.wem.2017.09.008

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In French Guiana, the main cause of febrile illness was Plasmodium falciparum malaria in individuals working in illegal mining sites (ref). The illegality of the activity constitutes a barrier to o cial preventive measures, and increases morbidity due to disease in the mines (12). The health care scenario in the mining environment is complex in view of the logistical challenges for health care programs for infectious diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions About Malaria Among Brazilian Gold Miners in an Amazonian Border Area: Perspectives for Malaria Elimination Strategies

Murta

Marques

Santos

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BackgroundMining in the Amazon exposes gold miners to various diseases, including malaria, whose control is still a major challenge. The environment of the mines contributes to the proliferation of vector mosquitoes and the precarious housing conditions facilitate transmission of the disease. Understanding gold miners’ perceptions is essential for the formulation of strategies to fight malaria. A qualitative study was carried out in the municipality of Calçoene, which lies in an area bordering French Guiana in the state of Amapá, Brazilian Amazon.MethodsA semi-structured interview was applied to an intentional sample of 29 miners, a number determined by the theoretical saturation criterion. Thematic analysis was adopted to obtain the results and the Cohen's Kappa index was calculated to verify the agreement between observers during coding.ResultsThe agreement between observers was verified by a Cohen's Kappa index of 0.82. Analysis of the interviews showed that gold miners were subjected to prejudice from the community due to forest diseases that they can transmit, and their activities are often associated with crime. When the miners return to their hometown after a period of mining, the urban population blames them for the onset of diseases such as malaria. Most participants in the survey did not know how malaria transmission occurs, and associated its occurrence with contaminated water and food. Participants reported not being afraid of the disease, trusting the diagnosis and available treatment, though this depends on where they are treated. The use of therapeutic resources, such as medicinal plants and medicines acquired in the illegal market, is very common in this population. Despite the challenges identified by the research subjects, they believe that the disease can be controlled or the cases reduced, but there was low acceptability for a possible mass drug administration (MDA) intervention. ConclusionDespite a recent reduction in malaria prevalence in Brazil, there are still vulnerable populations, such as gold miners, who help to perpetuate the existence of the disease in the Amazon. The lack of knowledge regarding how the transmission of malaria occurs, associated with myths regarding this and the use of traditional health practices and illegal drugs for the treatment of the disease without a specific diagnosis, jeopardizes the country’s efforts to eliminate malaria. It is necessary to implement control programs in these populations, especially those who frequently travel around the border region and to remote locations, which are difficult regions for health teams to access, thus hindering diagnostic and treatment actions. For this reason, understanding the perceptions of these individuals as well as their customs, beliefs and lifestyle, can assist in the production of targeted educational material and adoption of strategies in the elimination of malaria in the country.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions About Malaria Among Brazilian Gold Miners in an Amazonian Border Area: Perspectives for Malaria Elimination Strategies

Murta

Marques

Santos

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…French Guiana is an overseas territory of France located on the Atlantic coast of South America. Approximately 10,000 (or more) undocumented artisanal miners, mostly Brazilians, are there mining gold (Douine et al, 2018; Egmann et al, 2018). Being a French territory, it has a reasonably well‐developed emergency medical system that serves patients in remote, forested areas by helicopter (Egmann et al, 2018).…”

Section: Health Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approximately 10,000 (or more) undocumented artisanal miners, mostly Brazilians, are there mining gold (Douine et al, 2018; Egmann et al, 2018). Being a French territory, it has a reasonably well‐developed emergency medical system that serves patients in remote, forested areas by helicopter (Egmann et al, 2018). Universities and hospitals there conduct clinical research, funded by European programs (Douine et al, 2018).…”

Section: Health Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study by Egmann et al (2018) examines responses to medical emergencies in gold mining areas of French Guiana by medical teams dispatched by helicopter. Over two 3 yr periods, 1998-2000 and 2008-2010, there were 340 emergency runs.…”

Section: A Glimpse Of Unhealthy Conditions In Asmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Difficulties are magnified by the general absence of medical facilities in poor countries and specific difficulties of isolated mine sites and medical research in dangerous settings. However, studies in French Guiana (Douine et al, 2018; 10.1029/2020GH000325 Egmann et al, 2018) point to the likely existence of other unique collections of public health data relevant to ASM to be discovered and exploited. Another potential direction is in modeling risk and prevalence of diseases, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, and chikungunya as a function of landscape alteration with placer mining.…”

Section: Concluding Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of the Scope of Artisanal and Small‐Scale Mining Worldwide, Poverty, and the Associated Health Impacts

2021

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Some of the poorest people in the world's poorest countries eke out a living in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Equipped with primitive tools like picks, shovels, buckets, and gold pans, they work mining valuable resources, like gold, diamonds, tin, lithium, rare earth elements, tantalum, and cobalt, and any other usable commodity, for example, sand, coal, or mica. The mining and refining processes are labor intensive and associated with a variety of health problems due to accidents, overheating, overexertion, dust inhalation, exposure to toxic chemicals and gases, violence, and illicit and prescription drug and alcohol addiction. Evident disadvantages with ASM are counterbalanced by the immense economic benefits. For many, the true scope and scale of ASM activities are unappreciated, along with the unknown health and societal impacts. Here, we set out to elucidate the scope of ASM beyond the recovery of familiar commodities, such as gold and diamonds. We adopt a holistic perspective toward health impacts of ASM, which includes unique occupational, environmental, and human/social drivers. A particular focus is poverty as a health risk with artisanal miners. They are commonly poverty-stricken people in poor countries, ensnared by a variety of poverty traps, which take a toll on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. ASM sometimes provides an opportunity to diversify income in the face of a decline in subsistence agriculture. However, ASM often trades one kind of generational poverty for another, coming along with serious health risks and turmoil associated with work in an informal "cash-rich" business. Plain Language Summary Many of the world's most valuable commodities, for example, gold, diamonds, and strategic metals, and less valuable resources, for example, sand, clay, and coal, are the products of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). The miners are commonly poor people with rudimentary tools, like shovels, buckets, and pans subsisting by working shallow ore deposits. Although an inefficient mining method, the large numbers of people can contribute substantially to a country's total production. Much of this mining occurs in distant, lawless areas like the Amazon River basin or the outback in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The work is grueling and dangerous because of violence and unregulated work sites. Miners suffer from the expected collection of occupational health risks, due to, for example, accidents, chemical exposures, dust inhalation, and lifting and lugging of heavy loads. Mining communities are at risk from incidental exposures to mercury, mosquito-borne diseases, poor sanitation, and more. Human and social problems also impact health. Our paper emphasizes poverty as a risk factor for disease, as miners are caught in poverty traps-unable to leave. Injuries and disease often must remain untreated because of costs and absent clinics.

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Mobile emergency care service: A time-course assessment and characterization of demand

Costa¹,

Cabral²,

Santana³

et al. 2018

International Emergency Nursing

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Prehospital Emergencies in Illegal Gold Mining Sites in French Guiana

Cited by 11 publications

References 17 publications

Perceptions About Malaria Among Brazilian Gold Miners in an Amazonian Border Area: Perspectives for Malaria Elimination Strategies

Perceptions About Malaria Among Brazilian Gold Miners in an Amazonian Border Area: Perspectives for Malaria Elimination Strategies

A Review of the Scope of Artisanal and Small‐Scale Mining Worldwide, Poverty, and the Associated Health Impacts

Mobile emergency care service: A time-course assessment and characterization of demand

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