Nigeria: Thousands of children need treatment for lead poisoning

Thousands of children in Nigeria's northern Zamfara state need immediate medical treatment, while dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. According to official estimates, 400 children have died, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages. Artisanal gold mines are found throughout Zamfara State, and high levels of lead in the earth and the use of rudimentary mining methods have resulted in an epidemic of lead poisoning among children, HRW said.