On August 6, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar presented a team of health experts who, according to him, will deal with the impact of lithium mining on citizens' health, the Beta agency reported.
"We have formed a team that will deal with whether there is a harmful effect on the citizens of Serbia in the event that lithium mining occurs, that is, the opening of a mine and the extraction of lithium. That is the basic task of this team," Lončar told reporters in Belgrade.
He announced that the team will include the director of the Institute for Public Health of Serbia "Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut" Verica Jovanović, scientific advisor and hematologist Bela Balint, head of the Department of Hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade Sanja Milenković and head of the Institute of Occupational Medicine of the Military Medical Academy (VMA ) Aleksandar Aleksic.
The team will also include the director of the Institute for Mother and Child "Vukan Čupić" Vladislav Vukomanović, the head of the Sterile Block and the Transplantation Department of that Institute Dragana Vujić, the head of the Military Health Administration of the Ministry of Defense Radivoje Anđelković, as well as the assistant director of the Institute for Public Health Šabac Igor Dragičević, in charge of monitoring risk factors in the environment on the territory of the Mačvan district.
"This is just the skeleton of the team, they will all have at their disposal all those who think they will need them to perform the task they were given by the president and the state of Serbia," Lončar said.
He added that this team does not have any tasks at the moment.
"He didn't get the task, because he didn't get a study based on which to make a statement. All the stories that are out there are not true. If there is a demand for lithium mining and if there is a study to do it, these people here, who have spent their whole lives deal with the treatment of people and testing, they are the ones who, with their experience and credibility, will do the analyzes and say whether it has an impact on the health of children and people," said Lončar, as reported by Beta.
The minister added that the members will go to the field and to the areas where lithium should be mined, and that they will talk to people and answer all questions.
He said that the complete work of the team will be extremely transparent, and that, as he said, "you will know what is being done at every moment".
He added that the team, through the Serbian embassies, will collect data on all lithium mines in the world - in Australia, Portugal, Chile, and that it has logistical support from the Serbian state.
"Without this team's statement on the impact (of lithium mining) on human health and ecology, it will not be possible to make any decision on the opening of the mine," said Lončar.
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