Malaria.

I am studying malaria-it's affects on economies, ecosystems, political systems, and communities-in Sub-Saharan Africa through two organizations, Malaria No More and the ONE campaign.  For homework this week, I wrote an op/ed piece about the use of DDT to eliminate malaria through house-spraying.  If you're interested, take a peek, and raise your awareness on April 25th for World Malaria Day!

The Deadlier of the Two

By Ashlee Morris

In Ghana a village, Berekuso, fights against malaria.  With educational training and mosquito nets, the villagers are protecting themselves against this devastating disease; however, more is necessary.  Employing other resources—like Internal-Residual Spraying composed of Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (commonly known as DDT)—could eliminate malaria completely from Berekuso.

                       

Chemist Paul Hermann Müller discovered DDT was a safe insecticide in small, diluted doses in 1874.  In the 1940s military units utilized DDT to eliminate diseases, like typhoid, threatening soldiers and civilians.  By the late 1940s, malaria was a significant, public-health problem in America.   The National Malaria Eradication program applied DDT treatments in homes to rid the country of mosquitoes carrying malaria, and the country was considered “malaria free” by 1949.

After the successful elimination of DDT in America, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) launched a similar movement to eradicate malaria internationally.  With the evaporation of funds, lack of community involvement, drug-resistance, and ban on DDT, the cause was dropped in the late 1970s.  Today malaria continues to wreak havoc.  781,000 individuals die of malaria annually, and 85 percent of those deaths belong to children under age five. 

Besides being a major, public health concern, malaria is a hindrance to economic, educational, and communal progress in the developing world.  Many resources are available to ease the burden.  Whole communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, like Berekuso, are educated about malaria, so it can be prevented, recognized, and treated properly.  Many families receive Long-Lasting insecticide treated nets.  A malaria vaccine, which is in the third trial phase, is being developed and tested on infants and children.  Artemisinin-based combination therapies are prescribed to individuals suffering from malaria for more effective treatment as well. 

Also communities utilize Internal-Residual Spraying (IRS) of insecticides indoors to kill mosquitoes.  IRS formulas composed of DDT, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), remain the most effective insecticide.  In 2006 WHO declared DDT, in the form of low-dose IRS, safe for use as a mosquito insecticide to eliminate malaria.  Shortly after WHO’s endorsement, the UN curbed DDT use against malaria.  WHO did not declare DDT unsafe; however, other methods, such as medicinal treatments for the uninfected, were endorsed instead. 

After Rachel Carson’s outcry in Silent Spring, scientific research declared that DDT harmed human health, destroyed agriculture, and disrupted whole ecosystems, and it was banned in 1972.  Contemporary research conveys that DDT use in the amounts necessary to wipe out disease-spreading insects, like malaria-carrying mosquitoes, does not threaten humans, animals, or crops.  House spraying with insecticides kills both the nesting mosquitoes and their eggs, making IRS an imperative move against future protection and complete malaria eradication.  In 2006 Arata Kochi, WHO’s malaria chief, stated that, “One of the best tools we have against malaria is indoor residual spraying. Of the dozen or so insecticides WHO has approved as safe for house spraying, the most effective is DDT.” 

While the UN’s rejection of DDT appeases environmentalists, it presents a huge roadblock to complete malaria eradication.  Concern about an insecticide’s adverse affects is legitimate, but if an insecticide is proven safe and affective against malaria, political correctness should be reconsidered.  Every 45 seconds a child dies from malaria, which means that, in the reading of this article, about five children die.  Lasting, negative side effects from DDT exposure are arguable, but the failure to apply every safe, affective resource known to end malaria could be considered irresponsible and narrow.  By encouraging the use of DDT in controlled, small doses, we protect entire families and communities from malaria and provide the hope of a malaria-free future.  Children should be allowed to grow up, and the use of DDT as an insecticide makes that a reality.    

DDT house spraying is not the only solution.  Further resources must be allocated for vaccine research and development.  Organizations and governments must work together to make anti-malarial drugs affordable and accessible as well.  Finally individuals affected by malaria must be educated and committed to ending malaria in their communities.  By joining efforts worldwide, we equip small villages, like Berekuso, to be the leaders of change in the fight against malaria.  With a perspective of long-term success and global understanding accepting of all safe methods of elimination, we can eradicate malaria.