[afro-nets] New York Times on USAID Malaria reforms

[Philip Coticelli <pcoticelli@gmail.com>]

New York Times on USAID Malaria reforms
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/politics/20aid.ready.html?adxnnl=1&oref=login&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1137767017-AWE0y3P/BpHQPuAEMvOoPg
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New York Times

Agency's Plans Mark Shift in Approach to Fighting Malaria
By Cecilia Dugger
Published: January 19, 2006

WASHINGTON , Jan. 19 - Stung by criticism from Republican sena-
tors for spending most of its $90 million malaria control budget
on consultants, conferences and travel, the United States' main
foreign aid agency by next year plans to spend half the money on
drugs, mosquito nets and insecticide spraying, a senior official
said today.

This was among changes outlined on Thursday at a Senate hearing.
Together they mark a significant shift in the United States
Agency for International Development's approach to combating ma-
laria, which kills about million people a year, mostly African
children. And the agency's spending priorities are not all
that's changing.

Like many western donors, A.I.D. long shied away from supporting
the use of DDT to control malaria, but will increase support for
its use this year.

The insecticide developed a bad reputation after the 1962 publi-
cation of Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring," which detailed
the environmental damage caused by massive crop spraying. But
malaria researchers say spraying tiny amounts of DDT inside peo-
ple's homes is safe, as well as the cheapest, most effective way
to control the disease.

The mosquitos die when they land on the walls. Michael Miller,
the agency's deputy assistant administrator for global health,
testified that the agency will spend $20 million on indoor
spraying this year, a twentyfold increase over last year. And in
three of the eight countries where it will fund spraying, "DDT
will be a primary insecticide," he said.

The agency will also shift its strategy to give away more free
insecticide-treated bed nets, which can control mosquito popula-
tions if widely used. A.I.D. has been criticized by some advo-
cates and senators for a heavy reliance on marketing low cost
bednets that they say too many destitute Africans simply cannot
afford.

"We are prepared as the situation warrants to provide free nets
in large amounts," Mr. Miller said. Senator Tom Coburn, an Okla-
homa Republican, called it a major victory that the agency will
now be spending less money on what he called bureaucracy and
more on life-saving treatments and strategies. He said he in-
tends to keep the pressure on for more change by holding hear-
ings every six months in the financial management subcommittee
of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Com-
mittee.

"Think how many years U.S. A.I.D.'s malaria program's been run-
ning and had we spent the money right how many more people would
now be alive," Senator Coburn said in an interview after the
hearing.

Mr. Miller disagreed that the money spent in past years to pro-
vide technical assistance to countries combating malaria had
been wasted, though he conceded the spending had tilted too far
in that direction.