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The Rx Africa needs to beat malaria [DDT]
New York Daily News ^ | September 26, 2006 | By FIONA KOBUSINGYE

Posted on 09/26/2006 9:14:04 AM PDT by aculeus

I've had malaria many times. The disease killed my son, two sisters and four cousins. Every year, it infects 400 million Africans and kills up to 1 million of our children.

Even at only $1,000 per life (and surely our lives are worth far more than that), malaria costs Africa $1 billion annually. We also lose millions of working days, billions spent on medicines and hospital visits, and billions because tourists and foreign investment don't come to our countries.

But finally there is hope that we can stop this death and devastation - provided we can move past old biases about a lifesaving pesticide called DDT. Yes, I'm referring to the DDT you've heard so many terrible things about - that it poisons the environment and endangers human health. It happens to be one of the keys to saving countless African lives.

Sprayed just twice a year on the inside walls of homes, DDT keeps 90% of mosquitoes from even entering. It irritates those mosquitoes that do come in, so they don't bite, and kills any that land. No other chemical does all that. And as used in public health programs, it's perfectly safe - for people and the environment.

That's how DDT reduced malaria by 75% in many areas, enabling doctors to use the new ACT drugs to treat the much smaller numbers of people who still get sick. By using DDT and the drugs together, South Africa cut its malaria rates by 95% in three years.

So using the pesticide would be a no-brainer, right? Wrong.

(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...


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1 posted on 09/26/2006 9:14:04 AM PDT by aculeus
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To: aculeus
billions because tourists and foreign investment don't come to our countries.

I seriously doubt this is due to malaria...
2 posted on 09/26/2006 9:19:20 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: aculeus

Rachel Carson is the greatest mass murder of all times. Stalin and Chengis Khan are probably sort of tied at second with about a third of Rachel's numbers and Hitler is a very poor third.


3 posted on 09/26/2006 9:21:52 AM PDT by tomzz
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To: aculeus

But what about the birds that might be harmed? A bird is certainly valuable, isn't it?

The failure to use DDT, among other things, is a criminal misuse of science.


4 posted on 09/26/2006 9:22:24 AM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine (An old sailor sends - YHWH remembers and is just)
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To: aculeus

Good article.Yrs ago the msm claimed DDT was responsible for everything from environmental destruction to birth defects.Of course that was a "simpler" time when i was inclined to believe what the taliking heads on the evening news told me.Is it safe?Any ideas?


5 posted on 09/26/2006 9:26:26 AM PDT by Thombo2
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To: aculeus
Carson lied
Africans died
6 posted on 09/26/2006 9:29:34 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (Everyone should have a subject they are ignorant about. I choose professional corporate sports.)
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To: aculeus
"Every year, (malaria) infects 400 million Africans and kills up to 1 million of our children."

Environmental Wackos are responsible for each of these deaths.

7 posted on 09/26/2006 9:35:04 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie ("We will slaughter anyone who calls Islam violent!")
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To: tomzz

DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!!  DING!!! 

The only criticism I have, is that I'd add Mao to that list, probably in second.  That latest biography put his death count at @70 million.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.


8 posted on 09/26/2006 9:35:28 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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To: tomzz

"Stalin and Chengis Khan are probably sort of tied at second with about a third of Rachel's numbers and Hitler is a very poor third."

From http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/MURDER.HTM

Mao (China) 77 million
Stalin (USSR) 62 million
Mongols (GK) 39.9 million
Hitler 21 million


9 posted on 09/26/2006 9:35:41 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel-NRA)
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To: aculeus

Why not just use mosquito netting?


10 posted on 09/26/2006 9:52:08 AM PDT by xenophiles
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To: xenophiles
Why not just use mosquito netting?

So you think people should go through their daily lives draped in mosquito netting? Would you want to do that instead of simply killing the little bloodsuckers?

11 posted on 09/26/2006 9:59:32 AM PDT by calex59 (Hillary Clinton is dumber than a one eyed monkey with a brain tumor(credit to Harley69))
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To: aculeus; P-40; tomzz; Citizen Tom Paine; Thombo2; AlaskaErik; Brad Cloven; Owl_Eagle; ...

Funny how malaria was almost completely eradicated in the United States BEFORE the introduction of DDT, and did not return after DDT was banned. Sorry, but Africa's health problems have very deep roots, and DDT will make very little difference. Fewer people will die of malaria, but they'll just die prematurely of something else instead.

Malaria by itself is rarely fatal. It's the combination of malaria and other diseases and malnutrition that makes it so frequently fatal in Africa. A malnourished baby with AIDS is likely to die from malaria, but the alternative is survive just long enough to transmit AIDS to other adults or their own babies, and then die. I had malaria twice as a preschooler living in Rwanda, while my father worked at the US Embassy there. I'm none the worse for wear, and didn't get any medical treatment that wasn't locally available (unlike my tonsillectomy, which required flying out to Germany).

Conservatives shouldn't be so hasty to embrace knee-jerk reactions to anything leftists oppose. Just because leftists greatly exaggerate the harmful effects of DDT on wildlife, doesn't mean that we should eagerly support having our tax dollars poured down yet another bottomless pit in the name of "helping Africa".


12 posted on 09/26/2006 10:45:08 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: calex59
"Would you want to do that instead of simply killing the little bloodsuckers?"
But! But! If you kill the little blood-suckers, all the animals that feed on them will die! There'll be no more bats! Then we'll run out of guano, and everyone will die!
13 posted on 09/26/2006 10:48:22 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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To: aculeus

Mite find something else to spray,,"In The House" !!


14 posted on 09/26/2006 11:29:22 AM PDT by 1COUNTER-MORTER-68 (THROWING ANOTHER BULLET-RIDDLED TV IN THE PILE OUT BACK~~~~~)
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To: calex59
So you think people should go through their daily lives draped in mosquito netting?

No. Read the article again-- we're discussing how to suppress malaria by ridding houses of mosquitoes. (Human beings are mostly diurnal, Anopheles are not.)

Would you want to do that instead of simply killing the little bloodsuckers?

Because it's simpler, cheaper, easier to verify and doesn't lead to insecticide resistance, dependence on foreign chemical industry or uneasiness in trade partners.
15 posted on 09/26/2006 11:39:02 AM PDT by xenophiles
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To: GovernmentShrinker

Friend of mine (white guy in Nam) caught malaria once, and told me it totally redefines the whole idea of what being sick is about. Banning DDT was criminal.


16 posted on 09/26/2006 11:44:27 AM PDT by tomzz
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To: GovernmentShrinker
"Just because leftists greatly exaggerate the harmful effects of DDT on wildlife, doesn't mean that we should eagerly support having our tax dollars poured down yet another bottomless pit in the name of "helping Africa"."

Funny, but I didn't see ONE WORD in the article suggest pouring out more tax dollars "in the name of "helping Africa"".

And just maybe, not having so many people with their systems weakened by malaria will help them get a handle on some of the other problems.

17 posted on 09/26/2006 11:52:51 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel-NRA)
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To: xenophiles
People would have to go around in their houses' draped in netting. They don't just bite after people go to bed. Insects don't build up a resistance to DDT, they just die. Saying they will build up a resistance to DDT is like saying ebola will build up a resistance to bleach, which will never happen. Not using DDT to kill insects, particularly mosquitos, over the last 40 years has led to the death of millions of people.

One question for you: What the hell makes you think these people who are being killed by malaria would not have thought of using mosquito netting if that was all it takes to protect themselves from malaria?

18 posted on 09/26/2006 12:00:19 PM PDT by calex59 (Hillary Clinton is dumber than a one eyed monkey with a brain tumor(credit to Harley69))
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Funny how malaria was decreased by 95 percent in South Africa by the use of DDT. In America we drained swamps and did other aggressive things to kill the mosquitos. We also used DDT to good effect when it came out. Malaria was never a big problem in the USA to begin with.

There are two types of malaria, which I see you fail to mention, one kills quite easily and the other usually doesn't. You obviously had the milder form. DDT is necessary and is not as harmful or as deadly as the left has made it sound for all these years.

This not only is true of DDT but of most of the other idiotic ideas the left puts out to deprive us of freedom under the name of conservation.

BTW, I don't see where the US is going to give money to these people for DDT, I read that the ban is being lifted. Please point me to any source regarding the US funding Africa for DDT use. Thanks and have a nice day.

19 posted on 09/26/2006 12:08:04 PM PDT by calex59 (Hillary Clinton is dumber than a one eyed monkey with a brain tumor(credit to Harley69))
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To: aculeus

20 posted on 09/26/2006 12:45:15 PM PDT by TChris (The United Nations is suffering from delusions of relevance.)
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