MALARIA, DDT & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

By

Professor Semakula Kiwanuka

On Sunday night, 22nd December, 2002, WBS Television hosted Hon. Jim Muhwezi, the Minister of Health and Hon. Lukyamuzi, MP for Lubaga South. The subject of discussion was whether to reintroduce the use of DDT in the fight against Malaria or not. With his extensive knowledge of the ravages of malaria in Africa and Uganda, the Minister made a strong case for the reintroduction of DDT. Hon. Lukyamuzi, Uganda's armchair environmental expert, put a contrary view, citing DDT's environmental hazards and made reference to international conventions against the use of DDT.

I am making the following comment for two reasons. My first comment is in my capacity as Uganda's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations where nearly all international conventions which Hon. Lukyamuzi is fond of quoting are made. Others are made by UN-related bodies. The second reason is to add my voice to those of our health experts and inform the arm chair champions of the environment that Malaria is a deadly plague that kills millions of African children every year. Such a scourge must be fought and DDT is at the moment the cheapest and most effective tool.

THE FACTS:

DDT acquired a bad reputation as a result of the gross misuse by American farmers who used to damp tons of it into the eco-system. As DDT from agricultural use got washed into the entire ecosystem, rivers, streams, etc. it affected the fish and the birds which ate the fish. Among the birds was the eagle, an American symbol. The result was a hysterical outcry against the use of DDT. In 1972, the USA banned its use though there was no conclusive scientific evidence of its toxicity against humans.

My second point should be specifically noted by Hon. Lukyamuzi. While it is true today that DDT is one of the 12 organic pollutants which an international treaty had scheduled for a global ban, the UN as well as health experts worldwide, have urged and recommended in 2000 to exempt DDT from the ban so that it can be used against Malaria (which kills millions of people), until a safer alternative is found. In 2000, the UN Secretary-General launched the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB. The same Secretary-General appointed a famous Harvard Professor (now President of the Earth Institute at Columbia University) Jeffrey Sacks as his Special Adviser on Malaria and HIV/AIDS.

THE GRIM STATISTICS

Malaria is a global plague, killing more than 2 million people annually, equivalent to 7 jumbo jets full of people crushing every day, year in year out. Although Malaria is found in more than 90 countries of the world, 90 percent of those affected live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a mass killer because every day, more than 3,000 African children under the age of 5 succumb to this deadly disease. And yet Malaria can be controlled and eradicated in Africa as it was done in Europe and the USA. Despite billions of dollars and decades of research, there is still no vaccine that is good for more than a few weeks. According to the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria kills one child under the age of 5 every 30 seconds. "It is a death toll that far exceeds the mortality rate from AIDS," according to the WHO fact sheet on malaria. These are the grim statistics which Hon. Lukyamuzi must no lose sight of.

What Hon. Lukyamuzi and many of the arm chair and the so-called expert environmentalists may not know is that scientists and health experts are unanimous that many of these deaths can be prevented with the use of DDT. It is cheap, three to five times cheaper than the pyrethroid insecticides prescribed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). And it is more effective than the alternatives.

Professor Attaran, an immunologist at Harvard University's International Centre for International Development is today leading a worldwide crusade. He argues that those who oppose DDT are ignorant of the science because DDT is safe if properly used. Above all it is effective and cheap. It costs one quarter, the price of the alternative pyrethroids.

CALLOUSNESS

Developed countries and Western environmentalists who today lead the crusade against the use of DDT, cannot escape the accusation of criminal callousness about poor helpless peoples in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. They used DDT to eliminate Malaria in their own countries including the USA. They used DDT to eliminate Malaria in Southern Europe. Now that they are free from the deadly scourge, they care more about the birds than about African children.

African leaders like Hon. Lukyamuzi should not join that crusade. If he did so out of ignorance, the time is now, that he is better informed. "Not using DDT is criminal, and it has been criminal for a long time," said Professor Roberts who has focused on Malaria and its prevention for 35 years. As Africans we should learn from the experience of South Africa. We should tell donors who threaten to withhold aid should we use DDT that saving millions of African Children is better than saving birds.

In conclusion, I urge Hon. Lukyamuzi to use his energies and to love African children more and join the crusade against Malaria and to save those children.