HEALTH minister Brig. Jim Muhwezi has expressed fear that western pharmaceutical companies producing anti-malaria drugs could be fuelling campaigns by environmentalists to block the use of DDT to eradicate malaria in Uganda.

Jude Etyang reports that Muhwezi, who did not name the companies, told lead anti-DDT crusader MP Ken Lukyamuzi face-to-face at a public debate, that it was likely pharmaceutical companies were compromising environmentalists to defend their commercial interests.

Muhwezi further linked the pharmaceuticals protecting business interests scheme to the tendency for Uganda's health sector donors not releasing enough money for malaria eradication.

"People who give us money cannot give us for malaria, it is a deliberate move by manufacturers who want to continue selling their drugs. we know about it," said Muhwezi during a debate on the political economy of DDT in malaria control at the Global Distance Learning Centre, Uganda Management Institute.

Lukyamuzi had earlier leveled a similar allegation in Muhwezi's direction, saying government officials agitating for DDT use might have received a bribe to allow the chemical to be dumped in Uganda since its use and manufacture had been banned worldwide. But Muhwezi dismissed the allegations and said DDT could be manufactured locally.

Muhwezi said he was ready to fund a research project by Makerere University don Dr. Wilson Byarugaba to investigate whether DDT was still polluting Kihiihi where it was sprayed in the 1950s.