Georgia - Lead Levels in Children - A Moral Responsibility : UNICEF

©Georgia Today

Georgia faces its lead problem head on

By
Inna Lazareva
unicef.org
1 min
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As part of the national strategy, Dr. Chikvaidze and other medical personnel were provided with additional training to hone their understanding of the problem, including how to identify and respond to potential cases, and to encourage knowledge sharing among colleagues.

“Children with developmental issues are now being referred for lead tests,” Dr. Chikvaidze says. “Everyone I know [has] wanted to get tested.”
“A moral responsibility”

Georgia doesn’t currently have a public laboratory for the type of testing necessary, instead having to test blood samples overseas. And at around Gel 120 (around US$40) each, the tests have been beyond the reach of many Georgians, Dr. Chikvaidze says.

UNICEF is therefore working with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to establish its own laboratory and is also supporting the government in designing and establishing an environmental health surveillance system to collect data on pollution, human exposure to pollutants and the prevalence of related diseases.

“We felt there was a moral responsibility to continue [to address this] and this was nurtured by the very strong partnership we have with the NCDC,” says Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia. Khalil adds that UNICEF has been working closely with partners after receiving initial funding from the Estonian Embassy in the Georgia capital Tbilisi for the search for potential lead sources.

The NCDC has developed a 10-year strategy for tackling the country’s lead problem, and the Georgian Government has already begun rolling out new regulations on toys, is enforcing stricter construction standards for kindergartens, and is providing full governmental funding for lead testing for children referred by a doctor, among other measures.

Eventually, the NCDC is hoping to develop the capacity to test lead levels inside private homes, says Dr. Lela Sturua, head of non-communicable diseases at the NCDC.

In the meantime, the advice to families is to encourage handwashing, wash children’s toys, be careful where children are playing and be cautious about potentially overlooked sources of lead contamination, such as certain spices.