Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publishes Opposing Opinion Pieces About DDT Use To Curb Malaria

The U.S. ban on the pesticide DDT to curb malaria should be lifted or eased because available drugs to treat the disease are "prohibitively expensive" and other control methods are not as effective, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial. Although several countries such as South Africa have effectively controlled the spread of malaria by spraying DDT inside homes, neither the World Health Organization, which receives U.S. funding, nor USAID will finance DDT-spraying programs because of the U.S. ban on the pesticide, the Journal-Constitution writes. Until other methods to curb the spread of malaria are available, "limited and closely monitored applications of DDT may help hasten the day when malaria in Africa and other parts of the developing world is little more than a memory," the editorial concludes (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/18).

Curbing Malaria More Complex Than Spraying DDT, Opinion Piece Says
The debate over the use of DDT to control malaria ignores the "lessons of the past" because the chemical is "neither the ultimate pesticide nor the ultimate poison," May Berenbaum, head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, writes in an opposing Journal-Constitution opinion piece. Although DDT advocates are right to propose that the pesticide might be an effective malaria control technology in some circumstances, environmental advocates also are right to "worry that the unwise use of DDT, particularly where it is likely to be ineffective, may cause environmental harm without any benefit," according to Berenbaum. "Overselling a chemical's capacity to solve a problem can do irretrievable harm not only by raising false hopes but by delaying the use of more effective long-term methods," Berenbaum writes, concluding, "So let's drop the hyperbole and overblown rhetoric -- it's not what Africa needs. What's needed is a recognition of the problem's complexity and a willingness to use every available weapon to fight disease in an informed and rational way" (Berenbaum, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/18).