Uganda’s Ministry of Health Prepared To Go to Court To Ensure Approval of DDT For Malaria Control

Uganda's Ministry of Health is prepared to "resort to courts of law" if the National Environment Management Authority does not approve the ministry's recommendations to implement the pesticide DDT in the country's malaria control efforts, John Bosco Rwakimaali, director of the malaria control program in the health ministry, said on Monday, the Monitor reports (Luggya/Nsangi, Monitor, 7/26). Uganda's Parliamentary Committee on Social Services last week approved the use of DDT after reviewing an environmental impact assessment report conducted by NEMA. Uganda earlier this year announced it would begin nationwide indoor insecticide spraying using DDT this month with support from the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative despite warnings from the European Union that the move could affect the country's agricultural exports. The E.U. in 2005 issued a warning to Uganda that its produce and flora exports to E.U. nations might suffer if the country implements a malaria control strategy that employs DDT (GlobalHealthReporting.org, 7/21). Speaking at a meeting to review the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria-supported programs in Uganda, Bosco Rwakimaali said that Uganda would adhere to international guidelines when using DDT to control potential side effects associated with the pesticide. He also said indoor spraying was being conducted in the Kabale district under a pilot project, which does not include spraying on floors (Monitor, 7/26). Last week, environmental advocate John Ken Lukyamuzi held a protest in the Ugandan capital of Kampala against the use of the pesticide, saying DDT's effects are "notorious on the human body" and "persis[t] in the adrenals, kidney and fatty organs of the body, cereals, fish and fruit for 20 years" (Xinhua News Agency, 7/27).