News
Articles for September 2006
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Fiona Kobusingye-Boynes testifies before the Ugandan Parliament  - Fiona Kobusingye-Boynes
Statement of Fiona Kobusingye-Boynes before the Ugandan Parliament about the use of DDT for malaria control.
Health agency backs use of DDT against malaria  - Apoorva Mandavilli
After decades of being shunned as an environmentally damaging chemical, the pesticide DDT is once again being touted as the most effective way to fight malaria.
Health ministry welcomes endorsement of DDT  - IOL
South Africa acknowledges its success in bringing down malaria with DDT.
AFM Press Release: British American Tobacco's Anti-DDT Activism  - AFM
British American Tobacco has been leading anti-DDT activism in Uganda. BAT demands for more studies on DDT simply delay a tried and tested and highly effective weapon against malaria - the result is more death and disease. BAT's behaviour is similar to Bayer Crop Science's anti-DDT activism last year.
Analysis: Malaria in the spotlight  - Olga Pierce
UPI covers a Congressional briefing cosponsored by Africa Fighting Malaria, the Global Health Council and Friends of the Global Fight.
Region Divided Over DDT  - Moses Ilakut
British American Tobacco Uganda emerges as the ringleader in the coaltion blocking the use of DDT for malaria control in Uganda. BAT should be ashamed of itself - peddling cancer causing tobacco while hampering the use of a life-saving, non-carcinogenic chemcial that could save thousands of lives. ... watch this space.
Sen Tom Coburn's Letter to AFM  - Senator Tom Coburn
Senator Tom Coburn has written to Africa Fighting Malaira , congratulating us on our advocacy work, particularly with regard to promoting indoor residual spraying with DDT.
Good News For Malaria Victims  - Paul Driessen
After decades of failure and increasing disease, things are finally changing. New WHO policies under Dr. Arata Kochi are leading the way.
WHO Announcement News Roundup  - Various
A sample of media coverage for WHO's launch of its new IRS guidelines for malaria control, emphasizing the safety and cost-effectiveness of DDT.
World Health Organization (WHO) Announces New Policy Position On Indoor Residual Spraying For Malaria Control  - Medical News Today
WHO today releases new policies on a highly effective method of malaria control - Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS).
WHO Gives Indoor Use of DDT a Clean Bill of Health For Controlling Malaria  - WHO
Nearly thirty years after phasing out the widespread use of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to control malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that this intervention will once again play a major role in its efforts to fight the disease. WHO is now recommending the use of indoor residual spraying (IRS) not only in epidemic areas but also in areas with constant and high malaria transmission, including throughout Africa.
AFM Media Release on WHO call for DDT  - Africa Fighting Malaria
Washington, DC - WHO today releases new policies on a highly effective method of malaria control – Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). The new policy statement released by Dr. Arata Kochi, head of WHO’s Global Malaria Program, is greatly welcomed by Africa Fighting Malaria, though it has been criticized by some western environmentalist groups for promoting the careful, targeted use of DDT. Dr Kochi called on environmentalist groups to join the WHO and help to save lives in Africa in the same way that they strive to save the environment.
WHO Calls for Spraying  - Betsy McKay
Wall Street Journal's Betsy McKay reports on WHO's policies to promote indoor residual spraying using chemicals such as DDT.
WHO guidelines may increase DDT use  - LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP reports in advance of Dr Arata Kochi's press conference in Washington DC regarding WHO's new policy guidelines on IRS, which include statements on DDT. AFM advisor and board member, Prof. Amir Attaran welcomes the news that WHO is promoting DDT.
AFM voted "malaria advocacy group of the year"  - MFI
Africa Fighting Malaria has been voted Malaria Advocacy Group of the Year by the Malaria Foundation Interntational at the Malaria Wisdom Council Meeting held in Benin. We are grateful for the recognition of our work and thank our supporters for their help over the years.
Malaria Kills 300,000 People Annually in Nigeria  - Godwin Haruna
President of Malaria Society of Nigeria and erstwhile chief consultant malariologist to the Federal Government, Dr. Okokon Ekanem, has stated that malaria kills 300,000 Nigerians annually. The epidemic, he added, is also responsible for the loss of about N132bn per year in the country just as at least, 50 per cent of the populace suffer a bout each year.
The Resurrection of DDT  - Robert Hedeen
DDT's targeted use for malaria control is timely and appropriate.
Southern Africa: Malaria Kills 83 000 in SADC -- Experts  - Tsitsi Matope
At least 83 000 people from the bulk of southern African countries have died of malaria between October 2005 and March 2006.

Wade urges increased int`l aid against malaria in Africa  - Angola Press Economy Staff
Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade Tuesday appealed to international donors for increased and sustained intervention in African countries to eradicate malaria on the continent.
New Malaria Drug on the Way  - Judie Kaberia
The newest Malaria drug known as Artemether Lumefuntrine will be available in all government hospitals in Kenya by the end of this month.
The Medicines That Could Kill Millions  - Andy Coghlan
In south-east Asia half of all medicine sold is thought to be fake, much of it counterfeit versions of new anti-malaria drugs based on the molecule artemisinin, which many believe will be vital in curbing the spread of the disease.
AFM writes to World Bank Presdent, Paul Wolfowitz  - Richard Tren
Africa Fighting Malaria writes to World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz to ask, among other things, that the World Bank seek technical approval for their malaria programs from the WHO before they are implemented.
Dr. Coburn Challenges EU to Let African Countries Save Children from Malaria with DDT  - Senator Tom Coburn
Coburn writes to the EU about its poorly articulated policies on malaria control and DDT, and the EU responds.
Malaria remains 'leading killer disease in Ghana'  - Motshidisi Baloyi
Malaria is reportedly the top killer disease in Ghana, killing an average of five people every minute.
Malaria continues to cause unacceptable levels of death in Malawi and Africa.  - Precious Nyanyalisain
Malawi's Minister of Health announces that sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine will be phased out in favor of artemisinin-based combination therapies.
Move Over Malaria  - Madeline Vann
One of the biggest problems with malaria is that well over 50 percent of malaria parasites are resistant to current therapies. Now one American doctor has found a way to treat drug-resistant malaria.
Breakthrough against severe malaria  - Scenta
A joint study between Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden and Makerere University in Uganda has now produced some important findings on how the malaria parasite conceals itself in the placenta.
Madness Against Malaria  - PRLEAP.com
For the first time, basketball fans will be able to combine their competitive drive with a passion and compassion to fight the madness that is malaria and save the lives of the most anonymous and voiceless people of the earth - the malaria children.
SADC Military Tackles Malaria  - Francis Tsawayo
The 2nd SADC Military Health Service (MHS) Malaria Manager's Meeting, that deliberated on ways of strengthening joint collaborations and partnerships in the fight against malaria in the region, concluded yesterday.
Treating Parasitic Worm Could Increase Malaria Attacks  - Catherine Brahic
Suggestions that giving people drugs against parasitic worms could help control malaria should be treated with caution, according to research published this month.
The New York Times 
January 13, 2024

Using DDT: Pro and Con (2 Letters)

To the Editor:

"It's Time to Spray DDT," by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, Jan. 8), highlights the devastating impact of malaria and the fact that DDT is highly effective in saving lives. Unless donor agencies change their stance on DDT, and indeed on the use of all insecticides in malaria control, malaria will continue to claim more than a million lives a year.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health announced that it intended to use DDT in carefully controlled spraying programs as one of many tools to control malaria. The choice of DDT is a good one. World Health Organization data show that during the early 1960's DDT spraying in Uganda cut malaria cases dramatically.

Yet to date the Ugandan government has not been able to spray, largely because of a lack of support from the donor community. There have also been misguided, and malicious, reports that Europe would reject all agricultural imports from Uganda if it sprayed tiny amounts of the insecticide inside houses.

I hope that Mr. Kristof's article will help to change donor agency policies and save lives.

Richard Tren
Director, Africa Fighting Malaria
Sandton, South Africa, Jan. 9, 2005

•

To the Editor:

Nouveau enthusiasts of DDT - including Nicholas D. Kristof (column, Jan. 8), the World Health Organization and some conservationists - are ignoring its history and arguing that it is necessary for the health of millions otherwise vulnerable to malaria.

DDT was banned because its persistence and solubility in fats assure that there is no safe way to use it to avoid its accumulation and effects on fish, birds and people.

Its chronic use as an insecticide causes the evolution of resistant strains of insects. The resistance is met with heavier applications that simply compound the problems.

DDT is an example of a magnificent piece of technology whose great advantages as an insecticide are the very qualities that make it an unacceptably persistent poison subject to concentration factors of hundreds of thousandfold in the environment with devastating effects.

DDT's use and management are neither cause nor cure of malaria, despite the cries from those who should know better.

George M. Woodwell
Paul R. Ehrlich
Woods Hole, Mass., Jan. 11, 2005
The writers are, respectively, director of the Woods Hole Research Center and a professor of biology at Stanford University

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