Significant increase in leukaemia cases in South Kordofan’s Kadugli

The number of miscarriages and cases of allergy and leukaemia has notably increased in Kadugli in South Kordofan, after a gold extraction plant was established north of the town.
Dr Siddig Tawur, Technical adviser of the National Committee for the Protection of the Environment in South Kordofan told Radio Dabanga that local communities, especially people living in the districts of Marta, Kulba, El Hijeirat, and Bardab, located near the gold cyanidation factory, complain of an increased number of miscarriages, as well as leukaemia and allergy cases.
The Committee has been warning for years of the health and environmental hazards of the use of the highly toxic cyanide to extract gold from ore. It began last year with advocating better mining legislation and regulations in accordance with international standards.
Earlier this month, a medical team led by the Health Minister of South Kordofan investigated the increase in miscarriages, the birth of deformed children, and cases of kidney failure in El Tadamon locality.
Tawur however, said that the local authorities have threatened doctors of El Tartar Hospital in the locality because “they leaked photos of deformed children in the hospital”.