MP Ken Lukyamuzi's article on DDT published on January 17, cannot go unchallenged by any serious scholar.

I will lead the challenge because he particularly singled me out from among the proponents of DDT, which I am, both from a scientific point of view and practical experience.

I saw DDT being used by both the colonial and post- independent governments against mosquito sheer in Uganda. my parents also used it in getting rid of lice and peduculosis both on my siblings and our porters. We also inadvertently ate DDT from beans maize and foodstuffs which had been treated with the pesticide to control weevils. Although this number is small and statistically insignificant we neither have cancer nor are we sexually impotent.

Particularly the fact that Lukyamuzi describes DDT as a "toxin", a term which scientifically is not related to DDT or its end products DDE, DDA, is clear testimony that the may be venturing on unfamiliar ground.

Toxin is from flora and fauna (plant and bacteria) and not chemically synthesised or from DDT itself. The scientific diagnosis of malaria is based on microscopic examination of a blood sample. therefore if 40% of the patients at the health units have positive blood samples, Lukyamuzi has no scientific reason to refute the diagnosis of malaria by calling this fact 'mere fevers.'

Furthermore, the fact that he has the audacity to claim that malaria does not kill but is merely malnutrition is another scientific blunder. Malaria can kill anybody as long as the malarial parasites (plasmodia) have been inoculated into the individual no matter whether the victim lives in Kololo or Makerere Kivulu.

The claim that the European Union will not buy our products is another lame statement. European countries bought our coffee, cotton and hides in the 50s and 60s after spraying most parts of Uganda with DDT. I agree with Lukyamuzi that densely populated places like Mbarara and Kivulu are malaria-prone. This is because of the proximity of the people which gives a shorter distance for the mosquito to travel. I also agree that land reclamation can have great impact on mosquito breeding areas - a policy government should vigorously pursue.

Lastly, I invite him to a public debate under the theme "The political economy of DDT in malaria control" on January 25 at 2:00pm at the Uganda Manage-ment Institute.

That is better than demonstrating with wananchi who have no or scanty knowledge of the patho-physiology of malaria, history and chemistry of DDT.

The writer is an international health specialist and outgoing general secretary, Uganda Medical Association