Step-by-step guide for developing a public health strategy for artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the context of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Overview

Researchers or other assessors should use this guide to help ministries of health develop a public health strategy as part of the ASGM NAP. The evidence collected will clarify key issues to consider for the public health strategy.

The approach for collecting and using the evidence was developed by WHO and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and pilot-tested in three countries – Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria – between 2017 and 2019.

Objectives of the step-by-step guide are as follows:

1. provide guidance on the overall approach, including templates and tools, for conducting the assessment activities that will provide an evidence base;
2. offer guidance for translating evidence, other findings and insights gained from the assessments into a public health strategy;
3. share lessons learned from the three pilot studies in Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria that applied the approach.