{"id":59866,"date":"2022-05-10T10:29:35","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T09:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=publication&p=59866"},"modified":"2024-08-16T11:12:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T10:12:35","slug":"a-natural-resource-curse-the-unintended-effects-of-gold-mining-on-malaria","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/a-natural-resource-curse-the-unintended-effects-of-gold-mining-on-malaria\/","title":{"rendered":"A natural resource curse: the unintended effects of gold mining on malaria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The relationship between people and the environment is important for human health yet we currently have little understanding of whether and how national development policy might have negative effects on human health through altering the local ecology. This paper takes the example of a policy change in the Philippines that improved the investment climate in the country’s mining sector, to assess the impact gold mining has on cases of malaria through altering the reproductive environment of mosquitoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparing provinces with and without gold deposits before and after the mining reform, the author finds that afterwards, provinces with deposits of gold had 32 per cent more malaria cases than provinces without gold deposits. Additionally, the impact on malaria appears to be persistent 10 years after implementation of the policy. The author suggests that the main mechanism is through gold mining’s creation of slow-moving bodies of stagnant water, which provide an ideal breeding site for the Anopheles<\/em> mosquito, malaria’s main transmission vector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key points for decision-makers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n