A Kenyan Newspaper Pleads for DDT Use Against Malaria
Memo to holdout environmentalists and stubborn governments — people are dying, and they don’t need to. Perhaps you’ll listen to an editorial out of Kenya:
Friday May 19, 2006
DDT holds the key to malaria controlMalaria is still the leading killer disease in the world. Statistics show that in Africa, a person dies every 30 seconds from the disease. The challenge to many countries, including Kenya, has been prevention and treatment of the disease.
Several initiatives have been mooted in vain, with the incidence growing by the day. Mid-last month, the Government introduced artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) as the first-line treatment for malaria to replace sulphur-based drugs that have lost potency against the parasite.
Although this was a positive step, there is need to invest in other intervention measures to wipe out mosquitoes. One of the best ways of controlling malaria is to use DDT, the insecticide that most environmentalists love to hate.
The insecticide was banned several years ago following pressure by environmental lobbyists, despite the fact that indoor residual spraying (IRS) with DDT eradicated malaria in the US and Europe and led to spectacular declines in the disease in other countries.
This resulted in an increase in the incidence of malaria, forcing some countries to review the ban against the wish of the European Union, US and UN. Southern Africa is today winning the war after reverting to DDT use.
The incidence has fallen by over 80 per cent in South Africa and almost by a half in Zambia, which reverted to the IRS programme in 2002. Tanzania and Uganda have just opted for the programme, despite threats by the EU to ban Ugandan agricultural exports.
Given these successes, there is need for the UN to review its stand on the insecticide and help developing countries institute tight controls and strict audits of their malaria-control programmes.
The good news is that DDT is at least being used in some areas that need it. Why not all of them?
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Previous Posts:
March 9, 2006 — What Do DDT, Bedbugs, and Immigration Have to Do With Each Other?
Dec. 20, 2005 — Passage of the Day: John Stossel on DDT Lunacy
Nov. 21, 2005 — Quote of the Day: Not Allowing DDT Has Killed Millions
