Health Observatories: AREVA maintains its commitment

AREVA finds Sherpa’s decision to leave the supervisory structures of the Health Observatories set up at AREVA’s mining sites in Gabon (in late 2010) and Niger (in late 2011) incomprehensible. The group is particularly surprised at Sherpa's response given that the NGO had already stated publicly, on two occasions, that it was "satisfied" with the progress made and the provisional results of the Health Observatories, "taking account of political difficulties and of logistic problems inherent to the launching of the medical consultation procedures"¹.

The Group intends to maintain its commitment to this program, which will continue in Niger and Gabon. Created through partnerships among AREVA, NGOs, and these countries’ governments and the first such initiative in the mining industry, the Health Observatories are intended to provide post-employment medical monitoring of former miners and to protect the health of people living around the mines.

Since they were set up, more than 800 former employees have received a medical examination (physical exam, lung X-ray and biological tests) performed by independent doctors. As part of the scheme, compensation has been paid out in two cases.

In the existing program in Gabon and Niger, AREVA’s role is to facilitate the efficient operation of the Health Observatories (in particular by providing the company medical files of former employees at its mines).

¹ Cf. Sherpa’s 2011 « Moral Report », approved during Sherpa general meeting on June 25, 2012.