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Miners have been blamed for the spread of tuberculosis in Africa
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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The development of the mining industry in African countries contributes to the spread of tuberculosis. This is the conclusion reached by a group of researchers from the USA and Great Britain led by David Stuckler from Oxford University. A report on their work was published in the American Journal of Public Health. The researchers studied the rate of development of the mining industry in 44 countries of Central and Southern Africa for the period from 2001 to 2005. After that, they compared the obtained data with the incidence of tuberculosis among the residents of these countries. What is tuberculosis? Scientists noted that the risk of miners contracting tuberculosis is higher than among representatives of other professions due to harmful working conditions. At the same time, almost half of African miners come to work in countries with developed mining of precious stones and metals from abroad. As a result, the risk of tuberculosis spreading across the continent increases. According to scientists' calculations, the increase in the rate of development of the mining industry in Central and Southern Africa may be associated with up to 760 thousand new cases of tuberculosis per year. The incidence of tuberculosis in African countries has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years. In particular, between 1900 and 2007, this indicator almost doubled from 173 to 351 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. In 2008, about 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis worldwide.