[afro-nets] DDT and malaria prevention

["Philip Coticelli" <pcoticelli@fightingmalaria.org>]

Untitled DocumentC heck out the first paragraph on media coverage of Dr. Roger Bate's update on DDT's use in malaria control. Phil

Africa Fighting Malaria Updates and Events
Africa Fighting Malaria (AFM) seeks to raise awareness of the huge burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and promote sensible policies for long-term solutions.

The Rise, Fall, Rise and Imminent Fall of DDT
Dr. Roger Bate, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and AFM Board Member, describes DDT in his Health Policy Outlook this month as probably the single most valuable chemical ever synthesized to prevent disease." Writing in the Wall Street Journal on recent efforts to reintroduce DDT for malaria control, Dr. Bate notes, however, "Developing nations are skittish. Their populations have been scared by environmentalists into thinking DDT causes cancer and birth defects; and their farmers have been frightened by EU officials and segments of the Western chemical industry into believing their crop exports will be boycotted. As a result, many African leaders have delayed re-introduction of DDT, perhaps indefinitely. Over the past three years, for example, two different Ugandan health ministers have wanted to deploy DDT indoors, but fearful of Western trade reprisals, their farmers have blocked all attempts to do so." And writing in the American magazine, Dr. Bate concludes, "Of course, support for DDT is hardly confined to the political right. Ottawa University scientist Amir Attaran used to work for Ralph Nader. Journalist Tina Rosenberg writes for The New York Times. They are both enthusiastic champions of DDT. So is scientist Donald Roberts, who recently won the prestigious Frank Brown Berry Prize in federal healthcare for his research on malaria. None of these people can objectively be called "right-wing." Nor can the post-apartheid government of South Africa, which has been another vital advocate of DDT spraying. The fact that the right has supported it does not suggest a conspiracy. Using DDT should be a no-brainer. If they truly want to help fight disease in developing countries, leftist advocacy groups in the United States and Europe should support DDT. For whatever their politics, anti-malaria activists are all working toward the same goal: saving lives."

Zanzibar slashes child malaria deaths with ACTs and ITNs
Research in Zanzibar, Tanzania has found a remarkable fall in the number of children dying from malaria. Within a three-year period (2002 to 2005), malaria deaths among the islands' children dropped to a quarter of the previous level and overall child deaths to half. Achuyt Bhattarai, Anders Björkman and colleagues from Tanzania, Sweden, Italy, USA and UK have published their results in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, where they show that the achievement follows the introduction of improved treatment. Malaria control was then further enhanced by the implementation of widescale use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs)...People with malaria have had free access to ACT in Zanzibar since late 2003; children under five years old and pregnant women have been given free ITNs (long-lasting insecticidal nets) since early 2006.

Other News
Uganda: 300 March Against Malaria

Education is key to wiping out malaria

Rwanda: Spraying Campaign is Having Its Impact

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A long, hard road to the end of malaria in Africa
AFM Southern Africa Director Jasson Urbach writes in Business Day of recent calls for malaria eradication, "Politicians and malaria programme managers wishing to catch this rising star need to be acutely aware that in reality we are not operating in a frictionless environment and there are serious obstacles to the roll-out and successful implementation of a vaccine. The obstacles are similar to those plaguing the effectiveness of malaria control programmes - weak infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles and the stark reality of millions of poor individuals who can barely sustain themselves, let alone spend money on measures to control and treat the disease. Research into new and essential tools to fight malaria in Africa must continue. We have a long, hard road to travel before eradication will be in sight and, if history is anything to go by, eradication will have more to do with African politics and economics than with specific technologies. In the short run, countries must continue to strive towards a comprehensive malaria control programme. This implies an acute understanding of the nature of the vectors as well as an understanding of what measures are needed to control the parasite most effectively, in terms of reducing levels of morbidity and mortality."

Upcoming Events
November 4-8, 2007: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, US.

November 12-13, 2007: Global Fund Board Meeting, Kunming, China.

November 28-29, 2007: Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

Please email Africa@fightingmalaria.org for more information.

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