Sam Zaramba, head of health services in Uganda, in an op-ed (subscription required) campaigns for a wider use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) as a preventative against malaria:
The United States and Europe eradicated malaria by 1960, largely with the use of DDT. At the time, Uganda tested the pesticide in the Kanungu district and reduced malaria by 98%. Despite this success, we lacked the resources to sustain the program. Rather than partner with us to improve our public health infrastructure, however, foreign donors blanched. They used Africa's lack of infrastructure to justify not investing in it.
The exercise pays for itself. With 90% fewer people requiring anti-malarial medication and other public-health resources, more healthy adults work and more children attend school.
Although Uganda's National Environmental management Authority has approved DDT for malaria control, Western environmentalists continue to undermine our efforts and discourage G-8 governments from supporting us.
The World Health Organization officially endorsed the practice last year.
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