Today is World Malaria Day.
I believe that malaria can be eradicated in my life time.
Join me in donating a bed net at http://www.nothingbutnets.net.
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World Malaria Day 2009
Today is World Malaria Day.
I believe that malaria can be eradicated in my life time.
Join me in donating a bed net at http://www.nothingbutnets.net.
Rev. Andrew Conard 
2 replies on “World Malaria Day 2009”
I saw an article somewhere that said Malaria could be eliminated in a couple of years the same way it was eliminated in the US – killing the mosquitos, and how did they do that DDT – which is now banned because of its effect on birds. Its an interesting issue where Environmentalism and Humanism collides.
From WIKI
Overall effectiveness of DDT against malaria
When it was first introduced in World War II, DDT was very effective in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality.[15] The WHO’s anti-malaria campaign, which consisted mostly of spraying DDT, was initially very successful as well. For example, in Sri Lanka, the program reduced cases from about 3 million per year before spraying to just 29 in 1964. Thereafter the program was halted to save money, and malaria rebounded to 600,000 cases in 1968 and the first quarter of 1969. The country resumed DDT spraying, but it was largely ineffective because mosquitoes had acquired resistance to the chemical in the interim, presumably because of its continued use in agriculture. The program was forced to switch to malathion, which though more expensive, proved effective.[18]
Today, DDT is still included in the WHO’s list of insecticides recommended for IRS. Since the appointment of Arata Kochi as head of its anti-malaria division, WHO’s policy has shifted from recommending IRS only in areas of seasonal or episodic transmission of malaria, to also advocating it in areas of continuous, intense transmission.[82] The WHO remains, however, “very much concerned with health consequences from use of DDT” and it has reaffirmed its commitment to eventually phasing it out.[83] South Africa is one country that continues to use DDT under WHO guidelines. In 1996, the country switched to alternative insecticides and malaria incidence increased dramatically. Returning to DDT and introducing new drugs brought malaria back under control.[84]
According to DDT advocate Donald Roberts, malaria cases increased in South America after countries in that continent stopped using DDT. Research data shows a significantly strong negative relationship between DDT residual house sprayings and malaria rates. In a research from 1993 to 1995, Ecuador increased its use of DDT and resulted in a 61% reduction in malaria rates, while each of the other countries that gradually decreased its DDT use had large increase in malaria rates.[30]