By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone
is hosting its first Stakeholders meeting of the Chemical, Biological,
Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) material Risk Mitigation. The conference which
began on Thursday is organized by the European Union Center of Excellence.
CBRN
materials are found in biological agents and equipments used in industries.
Officials say while they create fear in people, they do have beneficial use to
mankind, hence the need to discuss how to handle them.
Josephus
Kongo, Executive Secretary of CBRN Risk Mitigation in Sierra Leone, said while CBRN
materials are used for socioeconomic development, they can also be misused for
malicious purposes by terrorists. The confab, he added, would discuss how to
avoid getting such materials in the hands of bad people.
“Since we
cannot avoid using them, we want to make sure that they are used safely so that
their use can’t be injurious to people and the environment.”
The global
CBRN risk mitigation programme was launched in 2010. Sierra Leone officially
joined in May 2016. The Freetown conference hosted by the Ministry of Health
comes as Sierra Leone repositions itself for a fight against cancer, which was
recently declared a health emergency due to a rapid rise in number of cases
amidst poor medical infrastructure to address it.
Officials
say it is also designed to prepare health practitioners in the use of materials
that serve as sources of these potential harmful substances.
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