[Africa] Some African nations see DDT as solution to malaria

from The San Jose Mercury News

By Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times

NAIROBI, Kenya - DDT is making a comeback here.

Concerns over environmental damage led to a ban on the pesticide in the United States in 1972 and subsequently in many parts of the world, including in several African nations.

But now, some leaders in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania say the ability of the chemical to kill mosquitoes is their last hope to stem the continent's No. 1 killer: malaria.

Although AIDS receives far more attention, malaria kills 1 million Africans annually, and the toll is rising. One African child dies every 30 seconds from malaria, three times Africa's toll from AIDS.

``DDT is the answer to our problems,'' said Dr. John Rwakimari, head of the national malaria program in Uganda, where malaria rates over the last 15 years have increased fivefold.

European Union officials recently warned Uganda it would be ``taking a risk'' if it reintroduced DDT. In Kenya, flower growers say Western supermarkets are wary of the chemical, putting the nation's $400 million horticulture industry at risk.

African officials complain of hypocrisy and double standards on the part of Westerners, who used DDT to eradicate their own malaria problems decades ago but now push Africa to rely on harder-to-implement methods such as mosquito nets.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his country would proceed with DDT spraying, despite the EU warning.

``Why should we look on and watch our people die, when it is within our means to make a difference?'' Museveni said during a speech in April on Africa Malaria Day.

The United States, where the international backlash against DDT started more than 40 years ago, has re-evaluated its stance. The Bush administration said recently that the Agency for International Development would provide money for spraying this year as part of its $99 million anti-malaria program.