MEDICAL GEOLOGY IN AFRICA: AN EXAMPLE OF A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL GEOLOGY EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE

A dynamic and highly successful medical geology education initiative has been developed at the University of Johannesburg in Johannesburg, South Africa. The initiative, Medical Geology in Africa, started in 2012 with one part time MSc student sponsored by the South African Council for Geoscience. In 2015, two MSc students from Kenya were sponsored by the prestigious University of Johannesburg Program ‘Global Excellence and Stature.’ By 2017, the initiative has grown to 12 MSc students from South Africa and other African countries including Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya and Ghana and was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa and the University of Johannesburg. Ten of these students are registered at the University of Johannesburg at different departments including the Geology Department, and Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, two other students are registered at the University of Witwatersrand, and the University of Venda. Since the starting of the initiative, many activities were organized including events and sessions at international conferences such as: the 1st (2014) and 2nd (2018) International Symposium on Medical Geology in Africa; a session on Medical Geology at the IGC–Cape Town (2016) and at the EGU-Vienna (2018) in addition to a seminar for the postgraduate students in December 2017 at the University of Johannesburg. Currently there are 12 ongoing student-led research projects on topics related to medical geology in Africa including: the occurrence of high fluoride in groundwater in the Kenyan Rift valley and dental fluorosis in the area; geophagic termite mound soils and their possible impact on pregnant women in Namibia; uranium and radon gas concentrations and impact on human health in a closed gold mine in Johannesburg; chronic copper poisoning of sheep in some parts of the Karoo basin in South Africa; possible causes of the prevalence of endemic goitre in parts of Nigeria; assessment of major and trace elements and possible health implication of geophagic clays in parts of Ghana; arsenic in groundwater, health effects and possible remediation in Northern Province of South Africa ; natural Cr(6) occurrence in groundwater, health impact and removal; impact of PTHE on wild animals in the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. These activities are augmented by a one week introductory course in Medical Geology Honours level,. This program clearly demonstrates that medical geology has broad appeal and, with dedicated leadership, can result in activities that stimulate and retain student interest and enthusiasm.