The Breast Society of Ghana has urged individuals engaged in illegal mining, known as galamsey, to stop due to its harmful impact on public health. The society warned that the chemicals used in these mining activities are endangering lives, with health experts noting an increase in deformities among newborns and a rise in cancer cases linked to the unregulated operations.
Speaking during a media interview after the launch of Pinktober 2024, a breast cancer awareness campaign, Dr. Hannah Ayettey Anie, president of the Breast Society of Ghana, urged for an immediate end to illegal mining to protect public health.
“These chemicals [used in illegal mining] are injurious to the body. And as for what we will end up finding out, even for cases where we have had radiation disasters and all, we have realised that eventually it led to malformed children and all. So we don’t know what this will lead to in the long run.
“[Galamsey] is harmful. So we also want to use this platform to tell people, all those who are involved in this galamsey and illegal mining to stop so that we don’t end up hurting ourselves because you may think you are isolated doing your own thing somewhere but it will affect you, it will affect your neighbour, it will affect the society as a whole.”
