MSF ends successful lead mining project in Zamfara, Nigeria


In March 2010, MSF was alerted to a high number of child fatalities in Zamfara state, where an estimated 400 children had died within six months. Laboratory testing later confirmed high levels of lead in the blood of the surviving children. The root cause of the lead poisoning crisis was unsafe, artisanal mining activity in the area. Lead causes severe neurological deficits and death among children. Between May 2010 and December 2021, MSF screened 8,480 children under five for lead poisoning. More than 80 per cent of them were enrolled in a medical lead program, including 3,549 children who received lengthy chelation therapy to remove lead from their blood. At the same time, MSF engaged an environmental engineering organization that remediated the contaminated soil in villages, in cooperation with state and federal authorities and the community. But in many places, unsafe mining practices continued, and children got re-contaminated. The only long-term solution is prevention. MSF engaged an expert in occupational and industrial health that implemented a safer mining pilot project. After more than 11 years, due to the multi-sector approach, no more children are dying of lead poisoning in Zamfara, and MSF handed over the project to state authorities in February 2022.