Acabo de llegir a “The Economist” una de les notícies més importants dels últims 35 anys i que els nostres mitjans pràcticament han ignorat: L’OMS autoritza l’ús domèstic del DDT per combatre la màlaria.Sembla que finalment s’ha imposat la racionalitat científica al fonamentalisme ecologista. Des de la prohibició del DDT el 1972, més de 92 milions de persones han mort inútilment per la malària (veure el rellotge de la malària), sacrificats en l’altar de la ideologia eco-imperialista. Una ideologia que a l’igual que les seves homòlogues totalitàries del segle XX –el feixisme, el nazisme i el comunisme- han provocat directament o indirecta la mort de centenars de milions de persones. Dels 92 milions de morts per la malària, sense la prohibició del DDT com a mínim el 90% hauria sobreviscut.
El drama d’aquesta història és que se sabia perfectament que el DDT no era nociu. Però la ideologia i la política van poder més que racionalitat científica i van provocar un autèntic genocidi.
S’atrevirà algú a demanar responsabilitats? Algun d’aquests ministres i fiscals que no s'estan de res alhora de prohibir fumar o de demandar els fabricants de cotxes per incentivar l’escalfament global, seran conseqüents i portaran també davant dels tribunals els responsables del fanatisme ecològic que ha provocat la mort de gairebé cent milions de persones, especialment dones i nens, al Tercer Món?
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.
