DDT spray for June
Sep 23, 2006
THE Government is to spend $3m (sh5.6b) on spraying DDT to control malaria, ministry of health officials have said. Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) encouraged indoor residual spraying of DDT to bring the catastrophic disease under control.
By Fred Ouma
THE Government is to spend $3m (sh5.6b) on spraying DDT to control malaria, ministry of health officials have said.
Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) encouraged indoor residual spraying of DDT to bring the catastrophic disease under control.
Dr. John Bosco Rwakimari, the in-charge of the Malaria Control Programme in the ministry, said the Government had secured funds for purchasing the pesticide and spraying pumps as well as training staff to handle the task expected to commence on June 1, 2007.
Rwakimari said the spraying would be optional and they planned to start with Kanungu, Apac and all IDPs camps in accordance with WHO and Stockholm Convention guidelines.
“We’re yet to sign a contract to import DDT. Indoor residual spraying is a comprehensive exercise, which requires putting up planned mechanism, including sensitising the public and training the human resource to handle the task. That is what we’re doing, as we await NEMA’s (National Environment Management Authority) decision on the matter,†he said.
NEMA as the lead agency on the environment is supposed to oversee the implementation of the environmental impact assessment report, now under public scrutiny.
Addressing journalists yesterday at the ministry’s headquarter in Wandegeya, healthcare state minister Dr. Emmanuel Otaala (right) said, “We’re now to acquire a new arsenal in our armoury to fight malaria. This powerful arsenal is DDT to kill mosquitoes responsible for carrying the disease.â€
Otaala said malaria was the number one killer, accounting for between 20-23% (about 120,000) deaths in Uganda. Most of its victims are pregnant women and children below five years. He said other widely-used malaria-fighting methods had failed.
THE Government is to spend $3m (sh5.6b) on spraying DDT to control malaria, ministry of health officials have said.
Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) encouraged indoor residual spraying of DDT to bring the catastrophic disease under control.
Dr. John Bosco Rwakimari, the in-charge of the Malaria Control Programme in the ministry, said the Government had secured funds for purchasing the pesticide and spraying pumps as well as training staff to handle the task expected to commence on June 1, 2007.
Rwakimari said the spraying would be optional and they planned to start with Kanungu, Apac and all IDPs camps in accordance with WHO and Stockholm Convention guidelines.
“We’re yet to sign a contract to import DDT. Indoor residual spraying is a comprehensive exercise, which requires putting up planned mechanism, including sensitising the public and training the human resource to handle the task. That is what we’re doing, as we await NEMA’s (National Environment Management Authority) decision on the matter,†he said.
NEMA as the lead agency on the environment is supposed to oversee the implementation of the environmental impact assessment report, now under public scrutiny.
Addressing journalists yesterday at the ministry’s headquarter in Wandegeya, healthcare state minister Dr. Emmanuel Otaala (right) said, “We’re now to acquire a new arsenal in our armoury to fight malaria. This powerful arsenal is DDT to kill mosquitoes responsible for carrying the disease.â€
Otaala said malaria was the number one killer, accounting for between 20-23% (about 120,000) deaths in Uganda. Most of its victims are pregnant women and children below five years. He said other widely-used malaria-fighting methods had failed.