Huge stock of expired pesticides in Sudan

An inventory across 345 storage facilities by Sudan’s National Pesticides Council has revealed 5,000 tons of expired pesticides and 10,000 tons of pesticide-contaminated soil.

Speaking during a training session on the safe use of pesticides, Prof Nabil Hamid, president of the Sudanese Society for the Protection of the Environment in El Gezira state, says that the Council does not have the capabilities to dispose of the pesticides.

He highlighted that El Gezira state, where agriculture is conducted on a massive scale, is suffering of pollution of the environment, water, and food.

Prof Hamid warned of the consequences of the unsafe use of pesticides and stressed the need for the users, especially farmers, to follow the correct procedures to prevent harm to themselves and the environment.

Cancer

In early September 2016, a survey carried out by the Sudanese Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed a growing number of cancer cases in Sudan. This year the Cancer Hospital in Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira state, reported the admission of more than 160 new cases of cancer in January alone. Also the director of the People's Corporation for Patients with Kidney Failure in El Gezira reported an increase in the numbers of renal diseases patients.

Farmers in the state told this station that they assume the use and storage of certain pesticides have resulted in the rise of cancer cases in El Gezira.