A letter to Brig Jim Muhwezi
Dec 03, 2002
Letter from Toronto<br><br>Dear Brig Jim Muhwezi, Minister for Health. <br>
Letter from Toronto
Dear Brig Jim Muhwezi, Minister for Health.
Your announcement to resume the use of DDT (dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane) to combat the scourge of malaria in Uganda was hopefully made after very careful review of the scientific evidence available to health officials.
From what was reported in the press, you seem to believe that DDT is the magic silver bullet that will rid Uganda of the malaria epidemic.
This view is also shared by Africa Fighting Malaria, a South African based NGO headed by Mr Richard Tren that has lobbied very hard for the return of DDT in the fight against malaria.
However, before jumping on the DDT train, Ugandans should have a chance to look at the evidence and decide whether to trade the health and well being of future generations for short-term gains.
There is no question that in the short-run, DDT is the most effective chemical against insects including malaria-causing mosquitoes.
Created in 1873, DDT was found to be an effective insecticide by Paul Muller of Geigy Pharmaceutical in Switzerland in 1939. For his work in developing the insecticide, Dr Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1948.
Shortly after World War Two, DDT became the most popular insecticide around the world, especially in the United States of America. It was the poor-person’s insecticide of choice.
It was cheap, easily manufactured and effective against most insects including the anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the deadly malarial parasite known as
plasmodium falciparum. According to WHO, the use of DDT may have saved as many as 25 million lives worldwide.
However, DDT becomes very unattractive when viewed in the long-term, and we have the US experience to learn from. American biologist Rachel Carson chronicled the environmental devastation of DDT in her highly influential book Silent Spring, published in 1962.
Dr Carson noted that many species of peregrine falcons, eagles, songbirds, brown pelicans, California sea lions and many fishes had dwindled to dangerously low numbers because of DDT poisoning. Most disturbing was the fact that insects developed resistance to DDT.
Her observation was confirmed this year by Colorado State University biology professor Tom Wilson who, working with worldwide researchers, discovered that insects adapt very quickly to insecticide and become unaffected by it.
According to the scientists, this may explain why malaria-carrying mosquitoes may actually be on the rise in areas where DDT is being used. The point being that every time the critters survive a spray of DDT, they become stronger and reproduce offspring which are equally immune to the chemical, and now you have a monster mosquito on your hand.
Ten years after Silent Spring exposed the dangers of DDT, the US Environmental Protection Agency banned the insecticide on June 30, 1972. Ironically, long after the US stopped producing DDT, scientists are now only beginning to discover how persistent the chemical stays in the environment.
The Great Lakes that provide both Canada and the US with most supplies of drinking water have been found to hold dangerous levels of DDT. In L. Michigan and L. Huron, contamination levels are 300 times higher than normal. L. Erie comes second, while L. Superior and inland areas are less contaminated.
The high levels of contaminants in North American lakes and rivers have led to reduction in fishing and the eating of fish products. Last year alone, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators issued 2,618 fishing advisories or bans because of contaminants.
These bans covered 28% of all waterways and lakes in the US, bringing most commercial fishing to a halt.
The dangers of DDT to humans are well known. For example, short-term exposure to high doses of DDT is known to cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Other effects of DDT on humans include headaches, neurological changes (tremor or exaggeration of reflexes), facial numbness, partial paralysis, convulsions, loss of perception and vibratory sensation, respiration problems and many others.
Meanwhile, both the EPA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have determined that DDT may reasonably be anticipated to
cause cancer.
The alternatives to using DDT involve better education on how to avoid malaria-carrying mosquitoes, better drainage around homesteads, use of mosquito nets and alternative sprays. As well, the government of Uganda should lobby developed nations to speed up the research for the anti-malarial vaccine, currently being field-tested in Mozambique.
Sure Uganda can choose to use DDT for short-term gains, and there is no debate about its efficacy in fighting malaria-carrying mosquitoes. But when viewed for the long-term, the use of DDT is akin to the fallout from the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Dr Muller put it best in
a lecture he gave on December 11, 1948 after winning the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the use of DDT as an insecticide.
“We must be clear on this point, namely that we are in fact, moving into unknown territory where there are no points of reference to begin with so that we can only proceed by feeling our way.â€
Unlike Dr Muller, we now have a point of reference. Should Ugandans use DDT, and bargain away the health of future
generations?
Dear Brig Jim Muhwezi, Minister for Health.
Your announcement to resume the use of DDT (dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane) to combat the scourge of malaria in Uganda was hopefully made after very careful review of the scientific evidence available to health officials.
From what was reported in the press, you seem to believe that DDT is the magic silver bullet that will rid Uganda of the malaria epidemic.
This view is also shared by Africa Fighting Malaria, a South African based NGO headed by Mr Richard Tren that has lobbied very hard for the return of DDT in the fight against malaria.
However, before jumping on the DDT train, Ugandans should have a chance to look at the evidence and decide whether to trade the health and well being of future generations for short-term gains.
There is no question that in the short-run, DDT is the most effective chemical against insects including malaria-causing mosquitoes.
Created in 1873, DDT was found to be an effective insecticide by Paul Muller of Geigy Pharmaceutical in Switzerland in 1939. For his work in developing the insecticide, Dr Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1948.
Shortly after World War Two, DDT became the most popular insecticide around the world, especially in the United States of America. It was the poor-person’s insecticide of choice.
It was cheap, easily manufactured and effective against most insects including the anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the deadly malarial parasite known as
plasmodium falciparum. According to WHO, the use of DDT may have saved as many as 25 million lives worldwide.
However, DDT becomes very unattractive when viewed in the long-term, and we have the US experience to learn from. American biologist Rachel Carson chronicled the environmental devastation of DDT in her highly influential book Silent Spring, published in 1962.
Dr Carson noted that many species of peregrine falcons, eagles, songbirds, brown pelicans, California sea lions and many fishes had dwindled to dangerously low numbers because of DDT poisoning. Most disturbing was the fact that insects developed resistance to DDT.
Her observation was confirmed this year by Colorado State University biology professor Tom Wilson who, working with worldwide researchers, discovered that insects adapt very quickly to insecticide and become unaffected by it.
According to the scientists, this may explain why malaria-carrying mosquitoes may actually be on the rise in areas where DDT is being used. The point being that every time the critters survive a spray of DDT, they become stronger and reproduce offspring which are equally immune to the chemical, and now you have a monster mosquito on your hand.
Ten years after Silent Spring exposed the dangers of DDT, the US Environmental Protection Agency banned the insecticide on June 30, 1972. Ironically, long after the US stopped producing DDT, scientists are now only beginning to discover how persistent the chemical stays in the environment.
The Great Lakes that provide both Canada and the US with most supplies of drinking water have been found to hold dangerous levels of DDT. In L. Michigan and L. Huron, contamination levels are 300 times higher than normal. L. Erie comes second, while L. Superior and inland areas are less contaminated.
The high levels of contaminants in North American lakes and rivers have led to reduction in fishing and the eating of fish products. Last year alone, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators issued 2,618 fishing advisories or bans because of contaminants.
These bans covered 28% of all waterways and lakes in the US, bringing most commercial fishing to a halt.
The dangers of DDT to humans are well known. For example, short-term exposure to high doses of DDT is known to cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Other effects of DDT on humans include headaches, neurological changes (tremor or exaggeration of reflexes), facial numbness, partial paralysis, convulsions, loss of perception and vibratory sensation, respiration problems and many others.
Meanwhile, both the EPA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have determined that DDT may reasonably be anticipated to
cause cancer.
The alternatives to using DDT involve better education on how to avoid malaria-carrying mosquitoes, better drainage around homesteads, use of mosquito nets and alternative sprays. As well, the government of Uganda should lobby developed nations to speed up the research for the anti-malarial vaccine, currently being field-tested in Mozambique.
Sure Uganda can choose to use DDT for short-term gains, and there is no debate about its efficacy in fighting malaria-carrying mosquitoes. But when viewed for the long-term, the use of DDT is akin to the fallout from the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Dr Muller put it best in
a lecture he gave on December 11, 1948 after winning the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the use of DDT as an insecticide.
“We must be clear on this point, namely that we are in fact, moving into unknown territory where there are no points of reference to begin with so that we can only proceed by feeling our way.â€
Unlike Dr Muller, we now have a point of reference. Should Ugandans use DDT, and bargain away the health of future
generations?