United States changes stand on DDT in Africa
US government officials are enthusiastically endorsing and funding the use of DDT in subSaharan Africa after years of resisting calls from scientists who said the insecticide would be the best weapon for fighting malaria, despite lingering objections by some environmentalists.
By Vision Reporter
US government officials are enthusiastically endorsing and funding the use of DDT in subSaharan Africa after years of resisting calls from scientists who said the insecticide would be the best weapon for fighting malaria, despite lingering objections by some environmentalists.
“We’re really pretty aggressive about supporting DDT use against the mosquitoes that spread malaria,†said Michael Miller, deputy assistant administrator of the Bureau of Global Health for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in The Washington Times.
“We think DDT is an excellent insecticide and that it has some advantages over some other insecticides that are available,†added Richard Green, director of the Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition in USAID’s global health bureau.
The insecticide credited with eliminating malaria in the Western world years ago was outlawed in the US in 1972 and is banned in most countries because of environmental concerns and unsubstantiated fears it can harm humans.
Later this year, USAID will begin using DDT as part of malaria-control efforts in three nations — Mozambique, Ethiopia and Zambia. Miller said DDT may be used in Uganda next year.
But some environmentalists are disturbed by the US government’s change of heart.
Kristin Schafer, program coordinator for the San Francisco-based Pesticide
Action Network North America said, “DDT is not a silver bullet for malaria control in Africa. We strongly support the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which has been ratified by 122 nations, which calls for the [eventual] elimination of DDT.†Schafer pointed out that the global pact “urged mobilisation of resources to find alternatives to DDT.’
“We need healthy, safe alternatives for malaria control,†she said.
US government officials are enthusiastically endorsing and funding the use of DDT in subSaharan Africa after years of resisting calls from scientists who said the insecticide would be the best weapon for fighting malaria, despite lingering objections by some environmentalists.
“We’re really pretty aggressive about supporting DDT use against the mosquitoes that spread malaria,†said Michael Miller, deputy assistant administrator of the Bureau of Global Health for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in The Washington Times.
“We think DDT is an excellent insecticide and that it has some advantages over some other insecticides that are available,†added Richard Green, director of the Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition in USAID’s global health bureau.
The insecticide credited with eliminating malaria in the Western world years ago was outlawed in the US in 1972 and is banned in most countries because of environmental concerns and unsubstantiated fears it can harm humans.
Later this year, USAID will begin using DDT as part of malaria-control efforts in three nations — Mozambique, Ethiopia and Zambia. Miller said DDT may be used in Uganda next year.
But some environmentalists are disturbed by the US government’s change of heart.
Kristin Schafer, program coordinator for the San Francisco-based Pesticide
Action Network North America said, “DDT is not a silver bullet for malaria control in Africa. We strongly support the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which has been ratified by 122 nations, which calls for the [eventual] elimination of DDT.†Schafer pointed out that the global pact “urged mobilisation of resources to find alternatives to DDT.’
“We need healthy, safe alternatives for malaria control,†she said.