Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture (MTEC) has warned that Mercury is a dangerous element on the environment and people. This was said during the launch of the awareness raising campaign on the effects of mercury on
the environment and people at large. The campaign runs under the Minamata Convention on Mercury that Lesotho is a party to, whose objective is to protect human health and the environment from the anthropogenic
emissions and the releases of mercury and mercury compounds. Speaking at the launch, the Director of State Library Motlalepula Lethibelane highlighted
that the Minamata Convention on Mercury was launched in 2017 after the realization of the effects of mercury within the environment and people. “The research shows that mercury has been discovered to have effects such as damaging
kidneys, the liver, central nervous system, lungs, hearing as well as sight and a person can end up with amnesia. It can also cause miscarriage in pregnant
women, even though a lot of women tend to take mercury during pregnancy,” he said. He further said about 137 countries are in partnership with the Minamata Convention on mercury,
saying the covenant is intended to reduce and deduce the use of mercury on the environment and people. He also said the ministry induced training about
mercury in 2018 which included how Basotho use mercury and laws governing the use of mercury. He said the training was also intended to reduce the use of
products containing mercury through the Mercury Phase-Out Strategy. Ministry of Health (MoH) Deputy Principal Secretary (DPS) Mantšoanelo Monyobi stated that the establishment of the Minamata Convention is in line
with the Ministry’s mandate. She said the convention must be implemented effectively to minimize the risks posed to communities in all regions by the toxic
threat of mercury poisoning, as everyone is exposed to some amount of mercury and high amount of mercury can lead to long term and sometimes permanent
neurological damages. “As a country we are more than committed to protect our people against the potential health risks posed by mercury exposure and impact
on health. The Ministry of Health affirms its commitment to play its role thereof,” she noted. Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital Director Dr. Chale Moji urged Basotho to stand
against the use of mercury. He said mercury has impacted negatively on many lives and therefore needs to be stopped. He urged Basotho to abstain from mercury, most importantly pregnant women and children.
He also mentioned that this fight is for everyone not just organizations. MTEC also donated 30 vests to new born babies, tagged a message for raising awareness on the
effects of the use of mercury. The vests were printed “I AM A MERCURY FREE BABY”. This was also an initiative to advise women to stop the use of mercury during pregnancy for the well-being of their unborn children.
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