India
Seminar and Study Tour
Richard
Tren recently returned from India where he was hosted by
International
Policy Network, the Liberty
Institute and the Centre
for Civil Society. The reason for the visit was to present
at two seminars held by these groups and also to conduct
research for the upcoming collaborative study on malaria
control with the Liberty Institute.
Malaria
Seminar - Wednesday 27 March 2024
The
first event was co-hosted by the Liberty Institute and International
Policy Network and was titled 'Strategies
for Malaria Control: Need for a More Participatory Approach.'
The workshop was held at the India Habitat Centre
and was designed as a 3 hour interactive session with numerous
stakeholders. The two speakers were Dr. Sarala Subbarao,
director of the Malaria Research Centre in Delhi, and Richard
Tren of Africa Fighting Malaria. In attendance was Dr Kaul
of the Indian National Anti-Malaria Programme, representatives
from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health,
the Centre for Science and Environment, Hindustan Insecticides
Limited, Toxics Link and other interest groups.
The
first presentation was made by Dr. Subbarao and highlighted
the history of malaria control in India and explained some
of the ongoing difficulties faced by malaria control officers
in the fight against the disease. The emergence of resistance
to insecticides, drug resistance, management difficulties
and funding were all discussed at length. In addition, Dr
Subbarao explained some of the research that the Malaria
Research Centre is conducting in bio-environmental control
of malaria, which is proving to be successful in some areas.
Dr. Subbarao stressed the continued need for DDT in malaria
control, even though its use is being reduced. The insecticide
is particularly effective against the most efficient malaria
vector, An. fluviatilis and therefore any pressure
to reduce the use of DDT would be highly counter productive.
The
presentation made by Richard Tren was titled 'DDT and Malaria:
Environmentalism and Development'. The presentation highlighted
some of bias, junk science and political influence behind
the banning of DDT and the ongoing pressure against the
use of the insecticide. Richard went on to discuss the problems
of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
on the procurement and trade in insecticides which has the
potential to disrupt and delay malaria control efforts around
the world. In addition, the widespread adoption of the precautionary
principle in international treaties and as guidelines for
regulators is making the development of new technologies
and chemicals more and more difficult. This makes the task
of malaria control officers all the more difficult and when
faced with malaria vectors that can develop resistance to
insecticides very quickly can and will result in increased
incidence of disease and loss of life.
Malaria
and DDT: A Case Study in Environmentalism and Development
The
discussion that followed was highly charged with Ravi Aggarwal
of Toxics Link challenging the need for synthetic chemicals
in the fight against malaria and highlighting the fact that
insecticides that are destined for malaria control frequently
end up being used in agriculture. After much discussion,
the various participants stressed the fact that bio-environmental
control of malaria, while important, does not exhibit the
same efficacy as residual house spraying with synthetic
chemicals and that there was a strong need for DDT and other
new chemicals in order to save lives. The workshop was considered
highly beneficial for all and allowed for a great deal of
knowledge sharing and for the development of new contacts.
Poverty
Diseases Seminar - Thursday 28 March 2024
The
Poverty Diseases seminar was organised by International
Policy Network in conjunction with the Centre for Civil
Society and was held at the India Habitat Centre. The seminar
was designed as an interactive session with economists,
medical personnel, policy makers and other stakeholders.
The aim of the meeting was to get a better understanding
of what poverty diseases were and the best ways of tackling
them.
Among
the participants and speakers were representatives from
the WHO, the Nursing Council, the Apollo private medical
centre and the Leprosy mission. Two sessions were held,
the first dealt with institutions and fighting disease and
the second dealt with two case studies of poverty diseases,
namely malaria and leprosy.
Richard
Tren was the first speaker of the first session and his
presentation titled 'Government failure in South Africa'
highlighted the changes to legislation, breakdown of the
bureaucracy and the activities of Aids activists that are
discouraging investment and involvement of pharmaceutical
firms in developing countries.
Bimla
Kapoor, a reader at the Indira Ghandi National Open University
and Programme Coordinator for Nursing in India made the
second presentation. Bimla Kapoor's paper dealt with the
relevance of licensing and legislation in the nursing profession
and highlighted the need for a relaxation of the licensing
rules and for nurses to be able to play a more active role
in healthcare provision, particularly in the remote rural
areas.
Dr.
Derek Lobo of the Communicable Diseases Department at the
WHO began his presentation with a discussion of the main
reasons that developed countries in the North managed to
rid themselves of the major communicable diseases. Economic
advancement, wealth and an ability to provide clean water
and safe sanitation lie behind the main achievements in
disease control in Europe and North America, while the development
of vaccines and new drugs played a relatively minor role.
Dr Lobo went on to call for greater involvement and funding
from the donor community, developed country governments,
charities (such as the Global Fund) and the pharmaceutical
industry.
Dr.
Parth Shah, director of the Centre for Civil Society, challenged
the concept of health as a public good and discussed the
issue from a philosophical and economic point of view.
During
the second session, V J Sharma, the former head of the Malaria
Research Centre made a presentation on the economic costs
of malaria, with particular reference to India. Dr Sharma
highlighted the work done by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and others
that details the enormous drain that malaria places on national
economies, particularly in Africa. Dr Sharma pointed out
the link between malaria and poverty and the important contribution
that malaria control can play in ensuring the economic development
of poor, malarious countries.
Richard
Tren expanded on the link between poverty and malaria. While
research has been done that shows that malaria causes poverty
and keeps people and areas poor and undeveloped, the lack
of malaria does not necessarily stimulate growth. Government
policies that ensure economic liberty, ensure the rule of
law, protection of private property and limited government
involvement are far more important for wealth creation than
the control or eradication of malaria.
Mr Tren
was followed by D Vijaya Kumar from the Leprosy Mission
in Delhi who explained the work that their charity is doing
to combat leprosy which remains a very significant problem
in India, particularly for the poor. This presentation was
followed by Dr Ahmed Zaheer, a skin specialist at the private
Apollo Hospital. Dr Zaheer's paper detailed the problem
of leprosy in India and gave a clear presentation of the
medical effects of the disease. He went on to discuss the
leprosy vaccine that he had been developed in India in conjunction
with government research agencies. The vaccine has dramatically
increased the recovery period of leprosy patients and is
helping to avert new cases of the disease. Despite this,
the vaccine is not used by the WHO in its work to control
and treat leprosy in India.
The
presentations were followed by highly interactive and informative
discussions from the floor where there was a very wide range
of stakeholders and interest groups.
Other
Activities
Richard
Tren also attended a workshop
held by International Policy Network and the Liberty
Institute on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The
workshop was designed to benefit journalists and gave an
opportunity for Indian experts on intellectual property
to discuss the relevance and need for strong IPR. This was
done with relation to the entertainment industry, the computer
industry and with respect to the provision of health care.
In addition
to the above, Richard spent a great deal of time with researchers
from the Liberty Institute discussing and reviewing the
work and research that has been done on the upcoming AFM
publication on malaria control in India. A great deal of
information has already been sourced and it is hoped that
an informative and relevant study will be produced with
policy recommendations for government, aid agencies, researchers
and other interest groups.
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