TABLE 3: Toxicology Indicators for Landmines.
Country Estimated number of mines Average number of mines per km2 Estimated area of land contaminated (km2) Estimated % of land contaminated Estimated area of arable land contaminated (km2) Estimated % of arable land contaminated Estimated number of casualties per annum Estimated casualties per 100 000 population per annum Accident related expenditure per victim (USD$)1 GDP per capita per annum (USD$)
Mozambique 2 000 000 2.551 na2 na na na 550 120 - 318 na 120
Angola 12 178 000 9.768 872 690.000 70 na na 10 400 83 na 950
Afghanistan 10 000 000 15.335 488.916 0.075 11 026 0.361 8 000 100 354 200
Cambodia 10 000 000 56.651 3 284.688 1.861 5 000 0.163 2 400 47 - 181 138 200
Croatia 2 000 000 35.374 na na na na 222 6 na 2 5606
Libya3 12 000 000 6.820 580 648.200 33 1 830.000 8.491 120 3 na 2 8967
Poland4 14 894 000 48.926 25 000 000.000 82 3 984 000 3 40 0.1 na 2 037
Bosnia5 1 700 000 33.182 na na na na na 3 341 9 622 na
NOTES:
1. The UN estimates that 'treatment and rehabilitation costs on average USD$5,000 per victim' [UNHCR Ref / 1084 1994:4; ICRC 1993:3; Aqa 1994:24; Boutros-Ghali 1994:10; USDoS 1994:1; Williams 1994b:2; Goose 1995:16; Williams 1995:3]. The figures cited in this column represent the capacity of the victims to pay for treatment, rehabilitation, and prosthetics, rather than the actual cost of long term care.
2. 'na' indicates that data is not available.
3. Libya remains contaminated with World War Two mines. Data indicates the extent of contamination and casualty rates for 1980 [Westing et al. 1983:125; Allan 1982:494].
4. Poland has been cleared of mines. Data indicates the previous extent of contamination and the casualty rate in 1981 (the last year that records are available) [Molski & Pajak 1985:26 & 27].
5. The cost cited for Bosnia represents estimated expenditure on prosthetics only [Roberts & Williams 1995:202].
6. GNP per capita 1994 USD$ [World Bank 1996:172].
7. GNP per capita was estimated to be between USD$2 896 and $8 955 in 1994 [World Bank 1996:222].

SOURCE:

Cestac [1981:12]; Allan [1982:494]; UNGA / 38 / 383 [1983:Molski & Pajak [1985:18, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27, & 30]; Sgaier [1985:33]; Westing et al. [1985:120]; Roberts & Williams [1995:12, 17, 20, 40, 51, 66, 75, 95, 100, 109, 125, 131, 150, 164, 199, 202, 208, & 263]; Cooper [1995:pers coms]; World Resources Institute [1994:268-269 & 284-285]; & Ascherio et al. [1995:722].

INTERPRETATION:

There appears to be no single, universally applicable toxicology indicator for landmines. There is no clear relationship between the number of mines, or mines per km2, and casualty rates. The inference is that casualty rates are strongly influenced by cultural practices (and topography). The severity of landmine contamination is probably best judged by impacts on human health (that is, casualties per 100 000 population per annum).

References

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