A Japanese couple affected by the mercury-caused Minamata Disease has called on more countries to get involved in the global fight against water pollution due to the substance under a 2013 international convention.
Hideki and Suemi Sato said they hoped people in the world will know more about the danger of mercury in a speech they delivered jointly at a meeting of participants in the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Geneva on Monday.
"Once we are exposed to mercury, we cannot escape this disease for the rest of our lives. We must live with pain and suffering," Suemi, 67, told the fifth meeting of the parties of the convention.
Hideki, 68, said, "The damage caused by mercury is still occurring all over the world. I hope many countries and regions will participate (in) the convention and make efforts to achieve its goals."
Suemi and her husband Hideki were exposed to mercury in their mothers' wombs and grew up eating a lot of fish in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, where the disease was first discovered in the 1950s.
Hideki and Suemi reported that they have suffered from symptoms such as numbness, dizziness and nausea.
Hideki serves as chairman of the Collaboration Center for Minamata Disease Victims. The couple has sought official recognition as victims of Minamata Disease and compensation from the Japanese government since 2007.
Minamata Disease is a neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning. It has affected thousands of people who unknowingly ingested seafood contaminated with mercury.
In 1968, the Japanese government recognized that mercury in wastewater from a local chemical plant operated by Chisso Corp. caused the sickness.
The Minamata Convention, which has a total of 147 countries and regions as members, was adopted at an international conference in the city of Kumamoto in October 2013, and took effect in August 2017.
Since then, the United Nations has acted as a coordinating body, facilitating international cooperation and the exchange of best practices in the fight against mercury pollution.
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