VietNamNet Bridge - The children in Dong Mai Village of Hung Yen province exposed to lead poisoning are expected to receive medical treatment but they may become ill again as their living environment cannot be improved.

The “quiet killer” 
  
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Hung Yen provincial authorities are discussing solutions to minimize lead pollution and detoxify the lead-infected children in the village.   

Dong Mai villagers in the northern province of Hung Yen have been earning their living by reprocessing lead from old batteries for tens of years. The job has helped them get rich, but it has also damaged their health.

A survey conducted by MOH in 2007-2008 on thepollution level in Chi Dao Commune found that the lead concentration in the air was 3.5-10 times higher than the permitted level, while the figure in cultivated products was 4.6 times higher.

More seriously, many children in Dong Mai were found infected with lead at different levels. 

Nguyen Thi Anh, Deputy director of the Hung Yen provincial Department of Health, on May 6, 2015 told the local press that 33 children in Dong Mai, were seriously infected with lead and needed urgent medical treatment.

The department is working with Bach Mai Hospital to carry out detoxification for 33 children. However, they are facing financial problems. 

“The testing for lead poisoning costs VND10 million per person,” she explained. 

“It was very difficult to persuade local people to accept the test. And it will be even more difficult to persuade them to receive treatment,” she said.

It is expected to take every child two years and VND240 million to become free of toxins. 

Meanwhile, many parents do not want to take their children for medical treatment because they think the problem is not serious.

Getting treatment 

The latest report of the Ministry of Health showed that 97 percent of the 500 examined children in Dong Mai Village were found with lead concentration in thier blood higher than 3-7 times the permitted level.

Treatment has been given to those children who have lead concentration 4-7 times higher. However, many children have stopped receiving treatment or do not follow doctors’ instructions.

Not only children, but adults have been found as having the same problem, and they also refuse treatment.

“One or two weeks of treatment will be not enough for detoxification,” said Doan Ngoc Hai from the Ministry of Health.

HNM