DDT is an effective way to combate malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa

To start I will say that I am debating whether or not DDT is an effective way to combat malaria. Not whether or not the United States should be giving foreign aid. First I will show you the harm that malaria causes to Sub-Saharan Africa. 1. Malaria is one of the world's most devastating diseases, resulting in hundreds of millions of cases, and millions of deaths. According to Barry Mason, who has a graduate degree is zoology and biochemistry http://www.wsws.org... - The statistics associated with the disease are staggering. Of the 300-500 million cases per year in the world, 90 percent of them occur in sub-Saharan Africa - Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds and remains one of the most important threats to the health of pregnant women and their newborns. - The disease reportedly kills 71,000 to 190,000 infants in Africa annually. It can leave victims cognitively disabled. 2. The immense death toll of Malaria also creates severe economic ramifications for Africa, reducing the productivity and GDP of states and keeping many citizens trapped in conditions of poverty. According to the United Nations IRIN http://www.worldpress.org... - Economically, malaria drains the wealth of nations and costs Africa alone $12 billion a year. - In countries where this disease is endemic, it grinds down the per capita economic growth rate by 1.3 percent yearly. - Poor households can spend up to 34 percent of their total income fighting malaria 3. And, because of the increasing urbanization of Africa, over 200 million people live in constant risk of contracting the disease. Many of them will. According to Jennifer Keiser who is a population researcher at Princeton University http://www.ajtmh.org... - Using the latest United Nations figures on urbanization, it is estimated that 200 million people currently live in urban settings where they are at risk of contracting the disease. - Considering plausible scenarios, it is estimated there is an annual incidence of 24.8–103.2 million cases of clinical malaria attacks among urban dwellers in Africa. Next, I will show you that DDT is bar-none the most powerful preventive measure. 1. DDT has once again been recognized as the most potent malaria deterrent available. If the U.S. amends policy, other countries will follow suit. As Same Zaramba, the director of Health Services for Uganda said - The U.S. banned DDT in 1972, spurred on by environmentalist Rachel Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring." Many countries in Europe and around the world followed suit. But after decades of exhaustive scientific review, DDT has been shown to not only be safe for humans and the environment, but also the single most effective anti-malarial agent ever invented. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) has once again recommended using DDT wherever possible against malaria. 2. I recognize that as a result of poorly done 70's pseudoscience, DDT is considered to be a highly dangerous chemical. However, new science has shown in fact the opposite. DDT is a necessary chemical in the fight against malaria. As Kevin Freking, a writer for the associated press wrote. - Expanded indoor use of the pesticide DDT won't harm people or the environment and is critical in the fight against malaria, the World Health Organization said - Health officials said that there is a distinct difference when it comes to using DDT for agricultural purposes and using it to coat once or twice a year the inside walls of mud huts or other dwellings. - "The dosage is completely different than when the U.S. used DDT. One of the best tools we have against malaria is indoor residual house spraying. There is no credible evidence that DDT is harmful to human health," said Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria. "We must take a position based on the science and the data". Today malaria kills approximately one million people a year, mostly children, and sickens hundreds of millions more. This tragedy is most pronounced among the poor in underdeveloped countries with warm climates, where mosquitoes breed readily and there are few resources to combat the problem. There is presently no vaccine for malaria, only costly treatments to reduce the effects that most of malaria's victims cannot afford. These deaths and illnesses are almost entirely preventable through an inexpensive generic chemical which, when used properly, has almost no environmental side effects. Spraying this chemical on the walls of residences can inexpensively and effectively control the spread of disease-bearing mosquitoes and some other insects. Used in this manner, the evidence from decades of use is that the chemical has no ill effects on humans Applied once every six months, the mosquito problem is greatly reduced. Millions of lives can be saved and hundreds of millions could suffer less.