[procaare] DDT for malaria control: WHO Media Release and News Coverage

["ProCAARE" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

DDT for malaria control: WHO Media Release and News Coverage
*************

This morning, WHO announced that DDT should be used for indoor spraying to 
control malaria. This comes nearly thirty years of WHO trying to phase out 
indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides. Below, find the WHO press 
release followed by links to news coverage online.
- Procaare Mod.


WHO gives indoor use of DDT a clean bill of health for controlling malaria
WHO Press Release: 15 Sept 2006
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr50/en/
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WHO promotes indoor spraying with insecticides as one of three main 
interventions to fight malaria

15 SEPTEMBER 2006 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly thirty years after phasing 
out the widespread use of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to 
control malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that 
this intervention will once again play a major role in its efforts to fight 
the disease. WHO is now recommending the use of indoor residual spraying 
(IRS) not only in epidemic areas but also in areas with constant and high 
malaria transmission, including throughout Africa.

"The scientific and programmatic evidence clearly supports this 
reassessment," said Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, WHO Assistant Director-General 
for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. "Indoor residual spraying is useful to quickly 
reduce the number of infections caused by malaria-carrying mosquitoes. IRS 
has proven to be just as cost effective as other malaria prevention 
measures, and DDT presents no health risk when used properly."

WHO actively promoted indoor residual spraying for malaria control until the 
early 1980s when increased health and environmental concerns surrounding DDT 
caused the organization to stop promoting its use and to focus instead on 
other means of prevention. Extensive research and testing has since 
demonstrated that well-managed indoor residual spraying programmes using DDT 
pose no harm to wildlife or to humans.

"We must take a position based on the science and the data," said Dr Arata 
Kochi, Director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme. "One of the best tools we 
have against malaria is indoor residual house spraying. Of the dozen 
insecticides WHO has approved as safe for house spraying, the most effective 
is DDT."
Indoor residual spraying is the application of long-acting insecticides on 
the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters in order to kill 
malaria-carrying mosquitoes that land on these surfaces.

"Indoor spraying is like providing a huge mosquito net over an entire 
household for around-the-clock protection," said U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, a 
leading advocate for global malaria control efforts. "Finally, with WHO's 
unambiguous leadership on the issue, we can put to rest the junk science and 
myths that have provided aid and comfort to the real enemy - mosquitoes - 
which threaten the lives of more than 300 million children each year."

Views about the use of insecticides for indoor protection from malaria have 
been changing in recent years. Environmental Defense, which launched the 
anti-DDT campaign in the 1960s, now endorses the indoor use of DDT for 
malaria control, as does the Sierra Club and the Endangered Wildlife Trust. 
The recently-launched President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) announced last 
year that it would also fund DDT spraying on the inside walls of households 
to prevent the disease.

"I anticipate that all 15 of the country programs of President Bush's $1.2 
billion commitment to cut malaria deaths in half will include substantial 
indoor residual spraying activities, including many that will use DDT," said 
Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, Coordinator of the President's Malaria 
Initiative. "Because it is relatively inexpensive and very effective, USAID 
supports the spraying of homes with insecticides as a part of a balanced, 
comprehensive malaria prevention and treatment program. "

Programmatic evidence shows that correct and timely use of indoor residual 
spraying can reduce malaria transmission by up to 90 percent. In the past, 
India was able to use DDT effectively in indoor residual spraying to cut 
dramatically the number of malaria cases and fatalities. South Africa has 
again re-introduced DDT for indoor residual spraying to keep malaria case 
and fatality numbers at all-time low levels and move towards malaria 
elimination. Today, 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are using IRS and 10 
of those are using DDT.

At today's news conference, the World Health Organization also called on all 
malaria control programmes around the world to develop and issue a clear 
statement outlining their position on indoor spraying with long-lasting 
insecticides such as DDT, specifying where and how spraying will be 
implemented in accordance with WHO guidelines, and how they will provide all 
possible support to accelerate and manage this intervention effectively.

"All development agencies and endemic countries need to act in accordance 
with WHO's position on the use of DDT for indoor residual spraying," said 
Richard Tren, Director of Africa Fighting Malaria. "Donors in particular 
need to help WHO provide technical and programmatic support to ensure these 
interventions are used properly."

Indoor residual spraying is one of the main interventions WHO is now 
promoting to control and eliminate malaria globally. A second is the 
widespread use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. While the use of bed 
nets has long been encouraged by WHO, the recent development of 
"long-lasting insecticidal nets" (LLINs) has dramatically improved their 
usefulness. Unlike their predecessors, the long-lasting nets need not be 
re-dipped in buckets of insecticide every six months as they remain 
effective for up to five years without retreatment.

Finally, for those who do ultimately become sick with malaria, more 
effective medicines are increasingly becoming available. Unlike previous 
antimalarials that have been rendered useless in many regions due to drug 
resistance, Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) are now recommended. 
These lifesaving medications are becoming more widely available throughout 
the world. In January of this year, WHO took stringent measures to help 
prevent future resistance to antimalarial medicines by banning the use of 
malaria monotherapy. An example of the negative consequences of drug 
resistance is apparent in the threat it poses to intermittent preventive 
treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), a crucial strategic intervention to protect 
pregnant women from the consequences of malaria.

Potential funding to scale up the availability of all three of these 
strategic interventions has dramatically increased over the past few years 
through the inception of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, 
World Bank plans to significantly increase its funding for malaria, and the 
launch of the President's Malaria Initiative.

"With serious money finally becoming available to fight malaria, it is more 
imperative than ever that WHO provides sound technical guidance and 
programme assistance to ensure timely and effective use of these resources," 
said Dr Kochi.

Each year, more than 500 million people suffer from acute malaria, resulting 
in more than 1 million deaths. At least 86 percent of these deaths are in 
sub-Saharan Africa. Globally an estimated 3,000 children and infants die 
from malaria every day and 10,000 pregnant women die from malaria in Africa 
every year. Malaria disproportionately affects poor people, with almost 60 
percent of malaria cases occurring among the poorest 20 percent of the world's 
population.
For more information contact:


In Washington, DC:
Jim Palmer at 1 (202) 262-9823

In Geneva:
Ed Vela at +41 22 791-4550 or Shiva Murugasampillay at +41 22 791-1019

--
WHO Press Release:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr50/en/

AFM Press Release:
http://www.fightingmalaria.org/news.php?ID=911&month=September%202006

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5350068.stm

Reuters:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-09-15T165943Z_01_N15403306_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-DDT-ALARIA.xml

USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-15-ddt_x.htm

NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6083944
(audio interview with Richard Tren, AFM Director, will be
available at 7:30pm EST)

NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Malaria-DDT.html?hp&ex=1158379200&en=37286b023cfcd911&ei=5094&partner=homepage

WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115826757981263480.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

WaPo:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401172.html

IHT:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/15/healthscience/web.0915malaria.php

Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/09/15/ap3020181.html

ABC: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=2448821

CBS:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/15/ap/health/mainD8K5C8QG1.shtml

MSNBC: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14841117/

FOX:
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep15/0,4670,MalariaDDT,00.html

LATimes:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-malaria-ddt,1,6264356.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

SF Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/09/15/national/w073256D32.DTL&type=politics

SPI:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Malaria_DDT.html

Cross-posted from AFRO-Nets
adapted from a message posted by
Philip Coticelli
Africa Fighting Malaria