ohlefty asked
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – In the battle against one of Africa's deadliest diseases, some countries are fighting without their most potent weapon. That's because the weapon, DDT, or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloromethylmethane, is also one of the most controversial. Western donors, the United Nations, and environmental groups acknowledge the pesticide's effectiveness in combating mosquito-borne diseases - it has been shown to reduce malaria by up to 90%. But they are wary of the chemical, whose widespread use was once said to cause cancer and blamed for environmental damage, such as the thinning of eggshells of the California condor. Now, even as wealthy nations approve aid for Africa to fight malaria, critics say that by not explicitly authorizing the use of DDT, Western environmental standards are being applied to the developing world, where long-term, often unproven, risks take precedence over immediate needs - at a cost of thousands of lives. 'It's ecoimperialism,' says Richard Tren, head of Africa Fighting Malaria, an independent organization which advocates the use of DDT. 'DDT is not permitted in Sweden. Well, that's well and good. But you're not going to die of malaria in Sweden.'
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