Malaria's Toll Fuels the Case for DDT Use in Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya — DDT is making a comeback here.

Concerns over environmental damage led to a ban on the pesticide in the U.S. in 1972 and subsequently in many parts of the world, including in several African nations.

But now, some leaders in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania say the chemical, whose full name is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, is their last hope to stem an epidemic that kills 1 million Africans annually: malaria.

Although AIDS gets far more international attention, malaria is the No. 1 killer of African children, claiming one about every 30 seconds. And the toll is rising.

"DDT is the answer to our problems," said Dr. John Rwakimari, head of the national malaria program in Uganda, where malaria rates over the last 15 years have increased fivefold. "We must do something."

European Union officials recently warned Uganda it would be "taking a risk" if it reintroduced DDT spraying to eradicate mosquitoes. In Kenya, flower growers say Western supermarkets are wary of the chemical, putting the nation's $400-million horticulture industry at risk. Kenya is the top supplier of fresh-cut flowers to the EU.

"All it will take is for one flower to test positive and there's going to be a problem," warned Jane Ngige, head of the Kenya Flower Council, the industry's trade group.

African officials complain of hypocrisy and double standards on the part of Westerners, who used DDT to eradicate their own malaria problems decades ago but now push Africa to rely on harder-to-implement methods such as mosquito nets.

"The human cost of the Western policies is very high," said economist James Shikwati, director of the Inter Region Economic Network in Nairobi. "A tiny insect, a mosquito, is wreaking havoc on Africans, but there is little they can do because they have to ensure that they do not lose their agricultural market in Europe."

In addition to the human toll, Shikwati said malaria costs Africa $12 billion a year in lost gross national product and absorbs more than 20% of healthcare costs in some countries.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his country would proceed with DDT spraying, despite the EU warning.

"Why should we look on and watch our people die, when it is within our means to make a difference?" Museveni said during a speech on Africa Malaria Day in April.