“Momentum is building” in the global fight against lead poisoning, delegates at a high-profile industry conference has heard – with new initiatives and a growing body of research providing hope for a scourge that continues to kill millions each year.
Mikaela Gavas, the managing director at the Center for Global Development Europe, who organised the Second Annual Research Conference on Global Lead Exposure, cited major achievements over the past year in her opening address – including the publication of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Lead Poisoning Prevention Initiative, and another major new initiative from the Asian Development Bank.
At the same time, the scope of the world’s lead poisoning problem remains huge, with the World Health Organisation estimating lead causes 3.5 million cardiovascular deaths a year, while 815 million children are currently believed to be affected by lead poisoning worldwide.
The cost to the global economy is estimated to stand at $6 trillion (£4.5 trillion) annually, according to one study published in The Lancet: A figure that is equivalent to a staggering seven per cent of the global economy.
“Even relatively low levels damage learning and behavior. Impairing memory, attention, and the ability to learn is [then] linked to behavioral problems in childhood and to higher rates of crime in later life,” said Ms Gavas. “But the good news is that momentum is building fast.”
Her colleague Lee Crawfurd added that the world is “making progress in addressing” lead poisoning, with “great momentum in the last couple of years”.
In addition to lead-focused initiatives from multilateral institutions and philanthropies, a key marker of progress in the global fight against lead poisoning is the increasing body of research being published around the topic, with Mr Crawfurd sharing that 150 papers were submitted for presentation at the conference, up from 100 in 2025.
Papers presented on Wednesday included a study looking at lead content in “traditional eyeliner products” that are often used on young children in Pakistan, India, Morocco and Egypt often contain high levels of lead.
Another paper presented looked at lead content in commonly used consumer products in Malawi – including foodstuffs and cooking containers – while another looked at the high lead content in selected food and cosmetic products in Ghana.
Progress in tackling lead poisoning comes during a time when other global health initiatives have hugely suffered as a result of devastating cuts to foreign aid budgets from countries including the US and UK.
One conference attendee who works at a US company selling blood lead-testing devices told The Independent that the momentum in anti-lead efforts may well be because of the decline in support for other health areas.
“It’s an area that has until now been neglected, which everyone can get behind with a kind of renewed energy, and which really seems solvable,” they said.
The conference also heard from Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan environmental activist dubbed the “Erin Brockovich of East Africa,” who spent ten years campaigning to win a court ruling awarding $12m (£9.2m) to a community poisoned by lead pollution from a nearby factory.
Ms Omido described children she had known who had died from lead poisoning, and women who had suffered multiple miscarriages with elevated blood lead levels.
“How should we all reconcile the concept of civilization and morality with the reality of the burden forced upon the weakest among us?” She asked.
“Today I address a room full of experts, policy makers, funders, and advocates who have the capacity to restore the right to a clean and healthy environment and the right to health for all people, regardless of where they are born.”
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project