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WHO’S HELPING THE WORLD’S
POOR – MINING COMPANIES OR GOVERNMENTS?
Commentary by Harold Hough June/July 2009
If one were to believe the media, you would think that mining
companies are not only engaged in the wholesale destruction of
the earth, but everyone within a 50 mile radius of a mine. We
are regularly told how the coal, gold, copper, and diamonds that
we use are killing, poisoning, and sickening everyone in the vicinity
of a mine.
That may be believable to anyone who thinks that Dudley Doright
of the Mounties is a realistic view of the world and Snidely Whiplash
is the typical capitalist. However, there is no rational reason
why mining companies would want to cripple the local workforce.
The reality is that their profitability depends of a healthy,
productive labor pool. That’s why mining companies are usually
at the forefront of public healthcare in third world countries.
Long before most mines are even in operation, they have opened
up clinics in local villages to improve the overall health of
the local population. In fact, in some parts of the world, upgrading
the population’s health is a necessity. In Africa, many mines
work in countries where nearly half of the working age population
has HIV. Without an aggressive public health program, the mines
wouldn’t be able to hire enough workers, train them, and
retain them long enough to be skilled, productive workers. For
instance, Barrick is supporting medical students in Tanzania,
a country that only has one doctor for every 25,000 people.
In Ghana, Gold Fields launched the Bowoho Ban (“Protect Yourself
“) weekly radio program to educate people about HIV/AIDS.
Newmont heightened awareness of HIV in Indonesia's West Sumbawa
region by gaining the support of local religious leaders and training
health educators to distribute information on the condition.
In South Africa, where AngloGold Ashanti’s workforce has
an HIV infection rate of 30% (which is lower than South Africa’s
national average of 44%) the firm hired AIDS Peer Educators who
persuade mine workers and community members to undergo HIV testing
and counseling. The response among mine workers during 2007-2008
was 80% compared to 40% participation during 2006-2007. Compare
this to the miserable record of the South African government,
which has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid
to control HIV, only to see infection rates skyrocket.
Mining companies are also discovering and employing more effective
methods to control disease than the obsolete programs of government
or non-governmental organizations. In Ghana, the dominant mosquito
species are resistant to the insecticides used by the World Health
Organization. But that didn’t stop AngloGold Ashanti, who
hired a worldwide authority on insecticide resistance, Professor
Richard Hunt. Hunt found an insecticide that controlled the mosquitoes
that was not being used by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The company initiated a program that reduced malaria infections
by 73% in about two years.
In many cases, mining companies are providing the basic education
and mosquito eradication programs that we expect from organizations
like WHO. Newmont is fighting malaria in Indonesia by, educating
residents about malaria prevention, clearing larvae breeding areas,
and distributing bed nets. The incidence of malaria among children
in the area of Newmont’s project declined from 47% in 1999
to 13% in 2000 (the project’s first year) to 1.5% in 2007.
Mining companies are also involved in controlling other illnesses
like tuberculosis. TB is a major problem because of the prevalence
of HIV in South Africa, the confined nature of working areas and
the fact that many miners live together in hostels. In South Africa,
over 60,000 gold miners were involved in a program that compared
the effectiveness of standard TB preventative measures commonly
used in the gold mining industry along with the other treatments
like a course of TB drug Isoniazid.
Can you imagine what will happen to these communities if government
activists were able to close these and other mines? Not only would
the residents be poor and jobless, they would very likely have
health issues that would normally shorten their lives. It makes
one wonder who is more concerned about the world’s poor –
mining companies or governments and their activist allies?
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