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Indigenous Minorities--Industry, Environment, and Public Health

Indigenous Minorities--Industry, Environment, and Public Health

In 1980, a group of Amazonian indigenous peoples called the Nahua was exposed to the outside world, and since then, their society has been plagued with infectious diseases, environmental issues, and governmental neglect. When the tribe first made contact with outsiders, about 50% of the population died from diseases, because their immune systems were not well equipped to deal unknown viruses and bacteria. While the Nahua did overcome this huge drop in population, they now deal with a different health issues--mercury poisoning.

Officials first discovered this phenomenon in November 2014, when a young baby was tested for heavy metals and came back positive for mercury. Since then, many groups and individuals have asked the Peruvian government for help, yet hardly any action has been taken. AIDESEP, an indigenous federation, argued that the government is trying to hide this issue so that it does not have to funnel money and resources into helping these indigenous minorities. While the government did establish a  Working Group, they still did not pass any major policies or actions to help the Nahua.

Eventually, health officials acquired urine samples and sent them to the Biodiversity Research Institute in the US. Although they did find very high levels of mercury in the urine, they stated that the samples were not acquired through the standard WHO regulations, making it impossible for them to draw any solid conclusions about the mercury poisoning or where it was coming from. However, many people still hypothesized ideas about the source of the heavy metal, some of these ideas being gold-mining, contaminated fish, deforestation, waste burning, and industry.

AIDESEP directed blame towards Camisea, a gas extraction project that is accused of causing toxic run-off and air pollution. According to the first report about the intoxication of the Nahua people, the United Nations Environment Programme claims that mercury is in practically all fossil fuels, making it reasonable to believe that this nearby gas project would cause poisonous heavy metals to end up in the water, food, and air.

Because the government has done little to help these people, the Biodiversity Research Institute suggested that health officials take matters into their own hands by monitoring the soil, air, food, and figuring out a proper way to rid the area of mercury. However, with a limited number of resources, there is only so much that the Health Ministry can carry out.

The situation with the Nahua tribe is a perfect example to show the interconnectedness of the environment, economic development, and public health among indigenous minorities. Although the source of the mercury is not certain yet, it is clear that fossil fuels can cause environmental damage through waterways and air pollution, causing toxic substances to circulate through regions that once sustained healthy populations. There is a lot of controversy over these types of topics, because fossil fuel companies like Camisea can bring in a lot of money to these countries, thereby boosting their infrastructure and potentially increasing their quality of life in the future. There are many positive and negative factors to consider with infrastructure development; however, it is crucial to ensure the sovereignty and wellbeing of a country’s people as well, something that is often disregarded when it comes to indigenous minorities.

More Info:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2018/jan/24/amazon-tribe-mercury-crisis-leaked-report

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2018 at 5:59 PM

    The nation of Bostwana understands the dangers of fossil fuels and the effects that have on people, more specifically Indigenous groups. We believe that necessary actions need to be taken in order to decrease the amount of fossil fuels being released, and we have taken action such as the increasement of our underground mines which generally have a lesser affect. However, we do not believe that the exportaion of coal should be stopped. Botswana, and mamy other countrie's economy is very dependent on steam coal, as we have one of the largest steam coal exports in Africa. Once the necessary infrastructure is placed in countries who export steam coal as much as Botswana does, then we can work towards decreasing the amount of fossil fuels countries release and work towards decreasing pollution so that we can help indigenous groups and maintain a healthier living for the international community.

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