Medical Geology of Africa

Theophilus Clavell Davies is a Research Professor (Medical Geology), a Chartered Geologist, and Environmental Consultant, currently based at the Mangosuthu University of Technology in South Africa. Formerly Council Member and Trustee of the Geological Society of London (1996 - 2000), he is presently Regional Councillor for southern Africa of the Association of Applied Geochemists (AAG), former member of the Supervisory Board of the International Medical Geology Association (IMGA), Member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO International Centre for Global-Scale Geochemistry (ICGG) and Former Member of the IUGS Commission on Geosciences for Environmental Management (GEM). Prof. Davies’ abiding interest centres around the role of geoenvironmental variables as causal co-factors in the aetiology of some obscure diseases (of unknown aetiology) in Africa. He has taught and carried out research, community engagement and consultancy in Germany, Great Britain, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Prof. Davies’ consultancy for the National Bank of Kenya in 1993 led to the discovery of huge gemstone deposits in the Tsavo National Park in southern Kenya, and the commissioning of a mine. Prof. Davies has published over 200 papers (peer-reviewed manuscripts, edited books and book chapters, abstracts, conference papers and reports) in course of these activities, some of which appear in the most reputable international geoscience journals. Prof. Davies is Associate Editor, Guest Editor or Reviewer for several high impact journals, including the Journal of Geochemical Exploration, GEEA and China Geology. He has singly or jointly edited six ‘Special Issues’ of these journals and is the author or co-author of chapters in the inaugural books: “Essentials of Medical Geology - Impacts of the Natural Environment on Public Health” (2005) and “Medical Geology - A Regional Synthesis” (2010). Prof. Davies currently holds the status of “Experienced Researcher” according to the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa ‘Rating System’. Major awards include two from the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany (1986; 1988) and another from the NMGS/Shell Petroleum Ltd. (2014) in recognition of “… persistent and consistent excellent research on the environmental geology of the African continent” [Sic].

Part I Some topical issues in medical geology of Africa: current knowledge and research gaps
1. General introduction
2. Project selection, proposal writing and reporting (dissertation or thesis) in medical geology
3. Geoenvironmental variables as causal co-factors of diseases of unknown aetiology in Africa
4. Environmental health impacts of geogenic source pollution in Africa
5. Combatting effects of ionising radiation exposure around uranium and gold mines in subsaharan Africa
6. Geophagic practices in Africa

Part II An exposition of some geomedically important elements, with Africa case descriptions
7. Introduction
8. Medical geology of arsenic
9. Medical geology of fluorine
10. Medical geology of iodine
11. Medical geology of lead
12. Medical geology of manganese
13. Medical geology of mercury
14. Medical geology of selenium
15. Medical geology of zinc

Part III Conclusion
16. General conclusion
17. Conclusion: medical geology in Africa - future perspectives and prospects