Research Article

Oscillating migration and the epidemics of silicosis, tuberculosis, and HIV infection in South African gold miners †

  1. David Rees MBBCh, DOH, MSc(Med), PhD1,2,
  2. Jill Murray BA, MBBCh, DOH, PGCE, FFPath2,3,
  3. Gill Nelson BSc, BSc(Hon), MSc(Med)2,3,*,
  4. Pam Sonnenberg MBBCh, DTM&H, DPH, MSc, PhD, FFPH4

Article first published online: 29 JUN 2009

DOI: 10.1002/ajim.20716

Issue

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

Special Issue: Migration and Occupational Health

Volume 53, Issue 4, pages 398–404, April 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Rees, D., Murray, J., Nelson, G. and Sonnenberg, P. (2010), Oscillating migration and the epidemics of silicosis, tuberculosis, and HIV infection in South African gold miners . American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 53: 398–404. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20716

Author Information

  1. 1

    Occupational Medicine Division, National Institute for Occupational Health, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa

  2. 2

    School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

  3. 3

    Pathology Division, National Institute for Occupational Health, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa

  4. 4

    Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research, Research Department of Infection and Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom

*National Institute for Occupational Health, PO Box 4788, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa.

  1. †

    The work was performed at the National Institute for Occupational Health.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 MAR 2010
  2. Article first published online: 29 JUN 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 14 MAY 2009

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Keywords:

  • circulatory migration;
  • gold mining;
  • migrant labor;
  • South Africa

Abstract

Background

Hundreds of thousands of men from rural areas of South Africa and neighboring countries have come to seek work in the gold mines. They are not immigrants in the usual sense as they work for periods in the mines, go home, and then return. This is termed oscillating or circular migration. Today we have serious interrelated epidemics of silicosis, tuberculosis, and HIV infection in the gold mining industry.

Methods

This article discusses the role of oscillating migration in fuelling these epidemics, by examining the historical, political, social, and economic contexts of these diseases.

Results

The impact of silicosis, tuberculosis, and HIV infection extends beyond individual miners to their families and communities.

Conclusion

Failure to control dust and tuberculosis has resulted in serious consequences decades later. The economic and political migrant labor system provided the foundations for the epidemics seen in southern Africa today. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:398–404, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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