The Mine Ventilation Society of Zimbabwe (MVSZ) has warned that the sharp increase in silicosis cases recorded at Kwekwe General Hospital is pointing to an “underlying exposure problem” that has been building up over several years, particularly among artisanal and small-scale miners, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The warning comes after a recent report by Kwekwe General Hospital showed that the facility had admitted 161 patients with silicosis between January and August this year, compared with just six admissions recorded during the whole of 2021.
The hospital has described the disease as a growing public health concern in the Midlands, particularly among artisanal and small-scale miners exposed to silica dust during mining activities. It said between 40 and 50 patients die from silicosis each year, while some sufferers require oxygen for prolonged periods because the disease is incurable.
But while the latest figures highlight the scale of the problem, they do not necessarily mean that 161 people developed silicosis this year. The disease generally results from cumulative exposure to respirable crystalline silica over a prolonged period.
In an interview with Mining Zimbabwe, MVSZ President Dr Tonderai Chikande said the figures should therefore be viewed as a warning of an underlying exposure problem that has been building up over several years, although improved screening and case detection may also have contributed to the increase.
“As the Mine Ventilation Society of Zimbabwe, we are deeply concerned by the figures coming out of Kwekwe General Hospital – 161 silicosis cases between January and August 2026, compared with six recorded in the whole of 2021. However, we should be careful not to interpret those numbers as meaning that all 161 cases developed silicosis in 2026. Silicosis is generally the result of cumulative exposure to respirable crystalline silica over time, so the figures are also an indication of an underlying exposure problem that has been building up over several years. The recent increase may also partly reflect improved case detection and screening,” Chikande said.
Chikande said the underlying exposure problem was being driven by several interconnected factors, beginning with the way mining is carried out in the ASM sector.
Artisanal and small-scale miners frequently undertake drilling, blasting, mucking, crushing and milling under conditions where dust-generating processes are not adequately controlled. Research in Zimbabwe has identified silica dust as one of the major hazards in ASM and documented dry blasting, lashing, dumps and crushing as sources of silica exposure, while engineering controls such as water sprays have been found to be lacking at some sites.
Those dust-generating activities become an even greater concern underground, where inadequate ventilation can allow contaminated air to remain in working areas.
Chikande said some smaller operations develop incrementally without an adequately engineered ventilation circuit, making it difficult to deliver sufficient clean air to working faces, dilute and remove contaminated air and prevent polluted air from being recirculated back to workers.
The risk is particularly acute after blasting and during mechanised drilling and crushing, when significant amounts of dust can be generated in confined working environments.
Beyond the physical mine environment, Chikande said Zimbabwe’s ASM sector also faces gaps in occupational-hygiene monitoring, leaving some operators without reliable information on the levels of silica to which workers are being exposed.
Research on Zimbabwean ASMs has found that miners generally lack basic occupational-health and occupational-hygiene services, including routine silica-dust assessments.
That monitoring gap is compounded by limited awareness among some miners about the long-term consequences of silica exposure.
Chikande said a Zimbabwean study found that only 59 per cent of surveyed ASMs knew that silica dust causes permanent and incurable lung disease.
He said training therefore needed to go beyond simply telling workers to wear personal protective equipment, with miners and supervisors needing to understand where dust is generated, how it travels underground, how ventilation controls it and how work practices can minimise exposure.
The challenge is further complicated by the economic realities of the ASM sector, where many operations are undercapitalised, workers can be highly mobile and access to engineering, occupational-health and safety expertise can be limited.
Against that background, Chikande said the problem should not be reduced to individual miners failing to protect themselves or treated as an issue that can be solved through protective equipment alone.
“So, from the MVSZ perspective, this is not a problem that can be solved by PPE alone, nor should it be framed simply as a failure by individual miners. It is fundamentally an engineering, occupational-hygiene, training, regulatory and public-health challenge that requires a coordinated response,” he said.
The warning comes as silicosis continues to take a heavy toll on mining communities, with Kwekwe General Hospital reporting rising admissions, prolonged hospitalisation and dozens of deaths annually.
The focus on mine ventilation and occupational exposure is also set to feature prominently at the MVSZ Annual Conference and AGM, which will be held from October 29 to 30, 2026, at the Holiday Inn in Bulawayo.
The conference will run under the theme “Innovation in Mine Ventilation for Sustainable Mining Growth.”
