Nigeria’s minister of communication technology Dr Omobola Johnson has distanced herself from a government official’s comments about mobile phones causing cancer.

Deputy director in the department of posts and telecoms for Nigeria’s federal ministry of communication technology, Ngozi Ogunjiofor, said on Thursday that mobile phones are a health hazard.

Ogunjiofor, who according to a statement from Johnson’s office represented the minister at the launch of an Etisalat flagship store in Abuja on Thursday, had “expressed a personal opinion and was quoted as saying that the use of mobile phones can cause cancer.”

Ogunjiofor, according Johnson’s press relations officer, also hit out at the dangers of using mobile phones while driving.

‘’Some radioactive elements in the mobile phone might affect the body and cause cancer and other health challenges. Radiation from phones can cause problems, and this is why we are advising the public not to bring phones close to their body or use in the rain. Radio waves produced by mobile phones could interfere with important electrical equipment, such as telecom masts, monitors, hospitals equipment’s and electrical systems on airplanes, and that is why the ministry made it mandatory for operators to install their masts five kilometres away from residential areas,’’ Ogunjiofor is reported to have said, according to Johnson’s media advisor Efem Nkanga.

Ogunjiofor then added: ‘’Dangerous driving is caused by mobile phones and it is important for operators to also enlighten the public on the risks, because this will also help members of the society to enjoy their lives. Mothers should not allow their children to play with mobile phones, especially when they are not of the age of using a mobile phone and are not well educated on the use of it.’’

But according to a public statement from minister Johnson, she said “that there are no proven health hazards resulting from the use of mobile phones or proximity to telecommunications installations for now that could pose a risk to human health.”
The minister has gone on to refute Ogunjiofo’s statement outright.

“Dr Johnson disclosed that there are no proven health hazards resulting from the use of mobile phones or proximity to telecommunications installations for now that could pose a risk to human health,” reads the statement from her media advisor Efem Nkanga.

Nkanga goes on to further quote the World Health Organisation (WHO) in an attempt to back up this view.

“Based on mixed epidemiological evidence on humans regarding an association between exposure to RF radiation from wireless phones and head cancers (glioma and acoustic neuroma), RF fields have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). Studies to date provide no indication that environmental exposure to RF fields, such as from base stations, increases the risk of cancer or any other disease,’’ the WHO said in 2013.

But the WHO has not completely discounted the possible risks as it claims more research on the topic needs to be done.
‘’While an increased risk of brain tumours from the use of mobile phones is not established, the increasing use of mobile phones and the lack of data for mobile phone use over time periods longer than 15 years warrant further research of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk.”

“In particular, with the recent popularity of mobile phone use among younger people, and therefore a potentially longer lifetime of exposure, WHO has promoted further research on this group and is currently assessing the health impact of RF fields on all studied endpoints,” said the WHO.