- Email: [email protected]
Minamata Bay finally declared free of mercury
THE LANCET
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Minamata Bay finally declared free of mercury thousands continue to suffer spasms and blurred vision. The disease was caused by seafood contaminated with
Eugene Smith/Magnum
ecades after suffering Japan’s worst case of industrial pollution, Minamata Bay was finally given a clean bill of health last week. “The safety of the fishery products has been confirmed”, announced Joji Fukushima, the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture on July 29. “The possibility of Minamata Disease recurring has been eliminated.” A 2000m net, which has been in place since 1974 to separate fish in the bay from those in the open sea, will be removed by September, he said. The bay area, 900 km southwest of Tokyo, has become synonymous with Minamata Disease, a crippling nerve disorder that has claimed hundreds of lives since it first came to light in 1956. Many babies in the area have been born with deformed limbs and
D
A case for compensation
mercury compounds that the chemical firm Chisso Corporation dumped into the bay between 1953 and 1960. Last week’s announcement was prompted by surveys showing that in each of the past 3 years, mercury
concentrations in the bay’s fish were below government-approved limits. A Minamata municipal spokesman said the city would now redirect its efforts from fighting the disease to promoting local industries and making sure that victims receive all the compensation they are due from Chisso and the national government. Compensation for many of the victims of Minamata Disease was only agreed in May, 1996, after a decadeslong legal battle. 2 days after the bay received the all-clear, a new international centre to promote research into mercury poisoning opened at the National Institute of Minamata Disease—part of the city’s plan to establish itself as a centre for global antipollution campaigns. Jon Watts
Cypriot sentenced for infecting woman with HIV-1
A
court in Larnica, on the small Mediterranean island of Cyprus, has jailed a man with AIDS for knowingly infecting a British woman with HIV-1 through unprotected sexual intercourse. The case against Pavlos Georgiou, of Ayia Napa, was brought under legislation prohibiting the negligent transmission of disease. The law was enacted 50 years ago to fight the spread of cholera and typhoid when the country was a British colony. The plaintiff, now 45 years old, met Georgiou while on holiday on the island in
January, 1994, soon after her divorce. She discovered she had contracted the virus from him in October, 1994, but continued the relationship until July, 1996, when she developed AIDS. She then returned to England for treatment and reported Georgiou to the Cypriot authorities. The 40-year-old father of four, whose wife died of AIDS in 1994, received a 15-month sentence—7 months less than the maximum for the offence. In his defence he claimed he had told the woman of his HIV-1 status and that she had
had other sexual partners in Cyprus. At least 271 HIV cases have been diagnosed among the island’s 730 000 population. In July, a Finnish court found an American guilty of 17 charges of manslaughter, after he knowingly infected five women with HIV-1. He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. These and other similar cases have prompted the British government to consider the creation of a new offence of recklessly transmitting HIV. Peter Mitchell
Services stretched as malaria reaches Kenyan highlands n outbreak of epidemic malaria in six highland districts of Kenya has killed 300 people in the past 2 months. Hospitals in the districts also admitted 10 700 people and treated thousands of outpatients daily. Health officials attributed the outbreak in the rift-valley highlands to the onset of the long rains and increased resistance of malaria strains to chloroquine-based drugs. The director of medical services, James Mwanzia, said the efficacy of chloroquine-based drugs in treating malaria has dropped to 50%. So far, 75% of adult beds in hospitals and health centres are occupied by patients with malaria. The percentage is even higher among
A
422
children, who are sharing beds. In certain areas, some schools have been closed while others have had high rates of absenteeism. Headteachers in Uasin Gishu and West Pokot districts have appealed to the government to set up temporary clinics and provide medicines free to the pupils. Beth Rapuonda, head of Kenya’s malaria-control programme, says the situation is critical because of lack of funds to mobilise a full-scale antimalaria campaign. After this outbreak has been contained, the government is embarking on a 5-year programme to control the disease and its vector. Mwanzia said the government will correct mistakes of concentrating on curative measures
instead of reducing the mosquito density countrywide. He also directed health services to use more effective, sulphur-based, drugs. 3 years ago, researchers at the Kenya Medical Research Institute warned that mosquitos were spreading to highland areas. In Kenya and elsewhere in the tropics, malaria is usually found in the lowlands, which are an ideal habitat for the vector. Currently, more than 4 million people are treated for malaria annually. This figure is likely to increase because of adaptation of the vector to new habitats and the increasing drugresistance of the parasite. Anderson Wachira Kigotho
Vol 350 • August 9, 1997
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Minamata Bay finally declared free of mercury thousands continue to suffer spasms and blurred vision. The disease was caused by seafood contaminated with
Eugene Smith/Magnum
ecades after suffering Japan’s worst case of industrial pollution, Minamata Bay was finally given a clean bill of health last week. “The safety of the fishery products has been confirmed”, announced Joji Fukushima, the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture on July 29. “The possibility of Minamata Disease recurring has been eliminated.” A 2000m net, which has been in place since 1974 to separate fish in the bay from those in the open sea, will be removed by September, he said. The bay area, 900 km southwest of Tokyo, has become synonymous with Minamata Disease, a crippling nerve disorder that has claimed hundreds of lives since it first came to light in 1956. Many babies in the area have been born with deformed limbs and
D
A case for compensation
mercury compounds that the chemical firm Chisso Corporation dumped into the bay between 1953 and 1960. Last week’s announcement was prompted by surveys showing that in each of the past 3 years, mercury
concentrations in the bay’s fish were below government-approved limits. A Minamata municipal spokesman said the city would now redirect its efforts from fighting the disease to promoting local industries and making sure that victims receive all the compensation they are due from Chisso and the national government. Compensation for many of the victims of Minamata Disease was only agreed in May, 1996, after a decadeslong legal battle. 2 days after the bay received the all-clear, a new international centre to promote research into mercury poisoning opened at the National Institute of Minamata Disease—part of the city’s plan to establish itself as a centre for global antipollution campaigns. Jon Watts
Cypriot sentenced for infecting woman with HIV-1
A
court in Larnica, on the small Mediterranean island of Cyprus, has jailed a man with AIDS for knowingly infecting a British woman with HIV-1 through unprotected sexual intercourse. The case against Pavlos Georgiou, of Ayia Napa, was brought under legislation prohibiting the negligent transmission of disease. The law was enacted 50 years ago to fight the spread of cholera and typhoid when the country was a British colony. The plaintiff, now 45 years old, met Georgiou while on holiday on the island in
January, 1994, soon after her divorce. She discovered she had contracted the virus from him in October, 1994, but continued the relationship until July, 1996, when she developed AIDS. She then returned to England for treatment and reported Georgiou to the Cypriot authorities. The 40-year-old father of four, whose wife died of AIDS in 1994, received a 15-month sentence—7 months less than the maximum for the offence. In his defence he claimed he had told the woman of his HIV-1 status and that she had
had other sexual partners in Cyprus. At least 271 HIV cases have been diagnosed among the island’s 730 000 population. In July, a Finnish court found an American guilty of 17 charges of manslaughter, after he knowingly infected five women with HIV-1. He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. These and other similar cases have prompted the British government to consider the creation of a new offence of recklessly transmitting HIV. Peter Mitchell
Services stretched as malaria reaches Kenyan highlands n outbreak of epidemic malaria in six highland districts of Kenya has killed 300 people in the past 2 months. Hospitals in the districts also admitted 10 700 people and treated thousands of outpatients daily. Health officials attributed the outbreak in the rift-valley highlands to the onset of the long rains and increased resistance of malaria strains to chloroquine-based drugs. The director of medical services, James Mwanzia, said the efficacy of chloroquine-based drugs in treating malaria has dropped to 50%. So far, 75% of adult beds in hospitals and health centres are occupied by patients with malaria. The percentage is even higher among
A
422
children, who are sharing beds. In certain areas, some schools have been closed while others have had high rates of absenteeism. Headteachers in Uasin Gishu and West Pokot districts have appealed to the government to set up temporary clinics and provide medicines free to the pupils. Beth Rapuonda, head of Kenya’s malaria-control programme, says the situation is critical because of lack of funds to mobilise a full-scale antimalaria campaign. After this outbreak has been contained, the government is embarking on a 5-year programme to control the disease and its vector. Mwanzia said the government will correct mistakes of concentrating on curative measures
instead of reducing the mosquito density countrywide. He also directed health services to use more effective, sulphur-based, drugs. 3 years ago, researchers at the Kenya Medical Research Institute warned that mosquitos were spreading to highland areas. In Kenya and elsewhere in the tropics, malaria is usually found in the lowlands, which are an ideal habitat for the vector. Currently, more than 4 million people are treated for malaria annually. This figure is likely to increase because of adaptation of the vector to new habitats and the increasing drugresistance of the parasite. Anderson Wachira Kigotho
Vol 350 • August 9, 1997