THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 183, September 25, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WINNING AFRICA'S WAR ON MALARIA:
WHO, USAID, & EU Support New Efforts That Will Bring Victory
By Fiona Kobusingye-Boynes
MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAMS IN AFRICA: ADVOCATES FOR EFFECTIVE, LIFE-SAVING MALARIA CONTROL
PROGRAMS OVERCOME THE OPPOSITION OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS & WIN THE SUPPORT OF THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION, THE EUROPEAN UNION, & THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT --
HUMAN HEALTH CONCERNS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, THE ANTI-INSECTICIDE MOVEMENT, & THE
IDEOLOGY OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM
FULL STORY:
I’ve had malaria more times than I care to remember. My son, two sisters and four cousins died from it. My once-brilliant
brother is permanently brain-damaged from it. In just one year, 50 out of 500 children in the school that my husband and I
help sponsor died from malaria.
This terrible disease infects 12 million Ugandans and kills up to 100,000 of our people every year. Even at only US $1,000
per life (and surely our lives are worth far more than that), this means a loss of US $100 million (180 billion Ugandan
shillings), every year. It costs our country millions of lost working days and billions of shillings in lost wages, every year.
It forces families to spend billions on medicines and hospital visits, and keeps tourists and foreign investment from
coming to our country.
Stopping this death and devastation has to be our highest priority.
Thankfully, we now have the weapons and allies to win our war against Killer Malaria.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore, and hundreds of doctors, disease experts, religious
leaders, and human rights advocates signed a declaration demanding that substantial money be spent on Artemisinin
(ACT) drugs, insecticide-treated bednets, and indoor spraying with DDT.
The American Congress agreed and told the U.S. Agency for International Development to do so. USAID is now buying
these things and assisting countries with spraying programs.
Drug companies have increased their production of ACT drugs, to meet growing demand.
Maybe most important of all, the new Director of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Program has announced
that indoor spraying with DDT will, from now on, be an integral component of WHO’s comprehensive malaria control
strategies. Dr. Arata Kochi and his global healthcare organization have determined that indoor residual spraying (IRS)
must be one of the primary methods for preventing the spread of this disease – and that DDT is perfectly safe for public
health purposes.
His message at a Washington, D.C., press conference was simple: “Please help save African babies, as you are helping to
save the environment.”
As my colleagues and I always emphasize, DDT can never replace the other weapons we also need to combat disease. But,
if it is sprayed just twice a year on the inside walls of homes, it keeps 90% of mosquitoes from even entering. It also irritates
any mosquitoes that do come in, so they don’t bite, and kills any that land. No other chemical, at any price, does all that.
That’s why DDT can reduce malaria by 75% in many areas, and enable doctors to use the new ACT drugs to treat the much
smaller numbers of people who still get sick. That’s how South Africa cut its malaria rates by 95% in just three years.
However, farmers and business leaders have worried that using DDT could disrupt our trade with Europe. One spokesman
recently said any trace of DDT would cause “immediate banning of the product” – with devastating impacts on Uganda’s
economy.
These are serious concerns, even though many feel they place economic interests ahead of people’s health and lives. In
reality, our US $415 million in annual agricultural trade with Europe – as important as it certainly is – actually is small
compared to losses we suffer due to malaria. The benefits of using DDT would be far greater than this trade revenue.
The good news, though, is that we don’t have to make this choice. We can have both trade with Europe and a healthy,
increasingly prosperous Uganda.
Three weeks ago, European Union President José Manuel Barroso wrote to US Senator Tom Coburn, to say the European
Union recognizes and supports the right of countries to use DDT and other “appropriate malaria control techniques,”
under Stockholm Convention and WHO guidelines. EU President Barroso also said exports to Europe would encounter
problems only if they have DDT above maximum allowable levels.
That’s not likely, because only tiny amounts of the chemical will be sprayed, only on inside walls, and only by trained
technicians. And Europe’s policy on DDT is exactly the same for other contaminants. If food, fish, or flowers have bacteria
or insecticides and chemicals (other than DDT) on them above EU limits, those shipments will also be turned away. We
simply need to make sure there are no contaminants on products we send to Europe – or on anything we sell to Ugandans
or other Africans, either.
As our CORE-Uganda T-shirts say, DDT is a weapon of mass survival. Using it saves lives. Preventing its use kills parents
and children, teachers, politicians, and businessmen.
Let me say it again. We need all our weapons: DDT, other insecticides, larvacides, bednets, education, medicines, more
hospitals, strong, well-organized public health systems, and careful monitoring of malaria control efforts in every city and
village, to make sure they are working.
It is time for all of us to work together. We must take advantage of these new opportunities, weapons, and allies. We must
make sure our disease control programs are based on science and facts, not on emotions, speculation, or baseless fears.
We must ensure that DDT is used properly. And we must bring Uganda, and all of Africa, to a new era of cooperation,
health, and prosperity.
CORE--Uganda, the Kill Malarial Mosquitoes NOW Coalition, and Africa Fighting Malaria are ready to work with all who
care about trade and health. We hope everyone will join us in this great undertaking.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Africa South of the Sahara -- Black Africa
Science, Ethics, & Human Health
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Fiona Kobusingye-Boynes is Coordinator of the Congress of Racial Equality--Uganda and a tireless advocate for effective,
life-saving malaria control programs. This article is based on testimony she presented to the Ugandan Parliament on
September 22, 2006. She can be reached at fiokob@yahoo.com
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