To celebrate the 4th anniversary of coming into force of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (a global treaty focused on making mercury history) campaigners under the aegis of WAMFD highlights some major milestones termed as ‘game-changers in Africa and across the world at the conference hosted by the federal ministry of health, federal ministry of environment in partnership with sustainable research and action for environmental development and world alliance for mercury-free dentistry.
In his comment on the fourth anniversary of the convention, President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Attorney Charlie Brown, described the Convention as a game-charger. He said, “With the Minamata Convention on Mercury as the game-changer, Africa is on the march to mercury-free dentistry – via civil society, via governmental action, and via joint action as a region. With NGOs coordinating their ambitious activism via the African Center for Environmental Health and with dentists led by Dentists for a Mercury-Free Africa, civil society is initiating the transition away from amalgam in Eastern, Northern, Western, Central, and Southern Africa.
Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Development (SRADev Nigeria), the focal organization for Minamata Convention in Nigeria, Dr. Leslie Adogame, said major achievements in the country were steadily increased awareness amongst key national stakeholders to the formulation of a draft policy on dental amalgam phase-out by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He said, “The coming of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Nigeria in 2018 has been a major turning point in civil society’s global to local advocacy. The World Alliance/SRADeV Nigeria coalition in collaboration with key stakeholders took up this campaign (past 7 years) not only to ensure that Nigeria emerges dental amalgam-free but also to implement the dental amalgam phase-out measures of the Minamata Convention. In fact, since signing the ‘Abuja Declaration’ in 2014 in Nigeria by over 30 civil societies endorsement, calling for Africa to be the first continent on the planet to end the use of mercury in dental care. “The campaign pioneered by SRADeV Nigeria with other civil societies recognized that Nigeria remains a major focus for Africa transition and has made painstaking strides in leading Nigeria towards ‘glocalization’ of mercury-free dentistry initiative”.
Executive Secretary of the Convention, Monika Stankiewicz, said, “An anniversary is always a moment of reflection and inspiration. Before its birth, the Minamata Convention was a promise to build a better, healthier world. Four years later, 132 parties and counting are working together tirelessly to keep this promise and make mercury history despite the coronavirus pandemic.”
“It is exciting to see how far we have come in such a short time and to know how many great possibilities lie ahead of us,” said Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, COP-4 President and Indonesia’s Director-General for Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Substances Management at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
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