Contact:
Medha Chandra, 650-283-4887
Karl Tupper, 415-981-1771
Washington DC – In a Capitol Hill briefing today marking the upcoming World Malaria Day (April 25th), experts called for increased U.S. support for safe and sustainable malaria control solutions.
“This preventable disease is devastating families around the world,” said moderator Dr. Andrea Kidd Taylor of the Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy, and the American Public Health Association (APHA). “We are here to share good news from programs that are winning the battle against malaria with the safest tools available.”
The briefing, co-sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy, APHA and other organizations, highlighted malaria control programs that have achieved strong results in Africa and Latin America. Experts from Kenya, Mexico and the United States emphasized the benefits of community-based approaches to malaria control, including use of bednets, environmental management and other integrated vector management techniques.
“Safer strategies that don't involve spraying the inside of people’s homes with pesticides exist, and are already being used in communities throughout Africa to combat this terrible disease” said Dr. John Githure, Head of the Human Health Division at the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Kenya.
Dr. Githure, who traveled to Washington DC for the briefing, presented examples of larval control and other effective biological vector control strategies to reduce the risk of malaria transmission by mosquitoes. According to research by ICIPE scientists, these measures are often more effective than “indoor residual spraying” with pesticides, and don’t pose any additional health risks.
Dr. Medha Chandra of Pesticide Action Network presented the findings of a gathering of African researchers and NGO experts from in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania earlier this month. A Declaration released by meeting participants expressed “serious concern” about the growing use of DDT for malaria control in Africa, despite a specific mandate from the global Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to reduce reliance on DDT for malaria control and work toward its ultimate elimination.
“Our colleagues in Africa are calling for a significant shift of resources away from the spraying of pesticides like DDT inside people’s homes,” said Dr. Chandra. “We ask that members of Congress direct U.S. funds to support safe and sustainable malaria control efforts that are in line with public health goals of the Stockholm Convention.”
As a persistent pesticide, DDT is targeted for a global ban by the 163 governments that have ratified the Stockholm Convention because it is toxic, accumulates in the bodies of humans and other animals, and lasts for decades in the environment. The treaty allows short-term use of DDT for malaria control, and urges the international community to help countries battling malaria quickly find and adopt safer alternatives.
Other organizations sponsoring the briefing include Pesticide Action Network North America, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and Beyond Pesticides.
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Resources
- New Report - DDT and the Stockholm Convention: States on the Edge of Non-Compliance, Pesticide Action Network, Germany (see http://www.pan-germany.org/download/ddt/PAN_G_DDT_study_EN.pdf)
- Dar es Salaam Declaration on Alternative Approaches to DDT Use for Vector Control (see spotlight box at http://www.panna.org/ddt)
- Stockholm Convention official site: http://www.pops.int
Available for Interviews
Dr. Peter Orris, MD, MPH, Professor and Chief of Service, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, 312-413-0105
porris@uic.edu
Dr. John Githure, Director, Human Health Division, International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology, jgithure@icipe.org
Dr. Medha Chandra, Campaign Coordinator, Pesticide Action Network North America, 650-283-4887, mchandra@panna.org
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