Quote:
Rachel Carson initiated the movement against the use of DDT in her 1962 book Silent Spring. Of course, by then, DDT had largely eliminated malaria in the United States. It is believed that DDT softens the shells of raptors and other egg laying species. It is thought that the birds are compromised by eating DDT poisoned insects. A ban on DDT, combined with passage of the Endangered Species Act, is thought to have restored raptor populations, particularly eagles. Some researchers dispute this contention. Regardless, DDT was banned in 1972 by the Environmental Protection Agency under Administrator William (Bill) Ruckelshaus. It is still used in some countries. Trandional environmental groups are calling for a global ban on DDT production and use. Although 120 countries adopted a treaty to phase out persistent organic pollutants (POPs)(includes DDT) in 2000, the treaty (United Nations' Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants) allows for limited use for control of malaria. About 25 countries including South Africa still DDT. The Malaria Foundation International seems to have some good ideas about DDT. They participated in a campaign to prevent a ban on DDT for malaria control.
Quote:
In 2000, say World Health Organization and other studies, malaria infected over 300 million people. It killed nearly 2,000,000--most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Over half of the victims are children, who die at the rate of two per minute or 3,000 per day. Since 1972, over 50 million people have died from this dreaded disease.
Where DDT is used, malaria deaths plummet. Where it is not used, they skyrocket. For example, in South Africa, the most developed nation on the continent, the incidence of malaria had been kept very low (below 10,000 cases annually) by the careful use of DDT. But in 1996 environmentalist pressure convinced program directors to cease using DDT. One of the worst epidemics in the country's history ensued, with almost 62,00 cases in 2000. Shortly after this peak, South Africa reintroduced DDT. In one year, malaria cases plummented by 80 percent. Next door, in Mozambique, whick doesn't use DDT, malaria rates remain stratospheric. Similar experiences have been recorded in Zambia and other African countries.
(source link)
(wikipedia link)
I personally can find no possible justification for not using DDT if it could save millions of lives. I ask this question however: If there was a question as to some alternative infectious disease that killed two million people annually in Europe or the United States and the solution was sitting right in front of everybody's faces is it even possible to imagine government regulators would limit usage on the grounds of possible harm to the endangered bird population?
It is also not surprising that strong support for the ban on DDT comes from population control groups. (If a link is requested I will provide it later).
ADDENDUM: The Bush administration is working to get restrictions (basically commerce departments rules that blackmail African countries into forcing them not to use DDT) lifted.
26 Jan 2007, 10:27 pm
