From Silent Spring to Plentiful Graves
The deadly scourge of malaria, once almost brought to heel by the effective use of DDT, has gained a substantial come-back in Africa and elsewhere in the third world where susceptibility to the mosquito-borne vector of this noxious disease is endemic. DDT has not been used as a chemical agent to eradicate deadly mosquitoes for six decades, and in that time there has been a spectacular rise in deaths due to malaria among vulnerable children in Africa.The famed biologist Rachel Carson wrote in the 1940s of the devastation wrought in the natural world by the use of DDT, and alerted the world to its inimical effect on birds and all manner of small creatures, effectively halting the use of this pesticide whose original purpose was to target a single deadly organism - but the indiscriminate use of which horribly affected organisms throughout the food chain.
Toward the end of her book, Silent Spring, Ms. Carson made it abundantly clear she was not advocating the total ban or absolute withdrawal of useful pesticides, but rather that she was intent on demonstrating the need for responsible, carefully-managed use of these substances, with an increased awareness of the chemicals' impact on our entire ecosystem. Her section on DDT was concluded by the phrases: "spray as little as you possibly can", rather than continue spraying "to the limit of your capacity".
Regardless, her observations on the deadly fallout of DDT and her impassioned pleas had the effect of totally discrediting the carefully-measured use of DDT. Measured to a dosage sufficient to the purpose at hand; the close eradication of mosquitoes and larvae carrying malaria and infecting huge swaths of populations in undeveloped countries. The gap left by the discontinued use of the chemical left the coast clear for a spectacular come-back of that dread disease.
Malaria now is the single greatest cause of child mortality in much of Africa. There are many concerned scientists and environmentalist who urge the studied return of DDT whose effectiveness in fighting malaria has never been equalled, but there is still much in the way of suspicion for its continued use. And meanwhile, children are dying, not in small numbers, but rather over one million children die from malaria annually.
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a medical activist, was instrumental in alerting the developed world to the devastation among Africa's children. He and his concerned colleagues have set up a charitable oranization to supply families with treated netting, a mosquito bed net. The net is treated with insecticide to last for a five-year period. Spread over a child's bed it provides assurance that the child will grow to become an adult.
Spreadthenet.org advertises its presence and invites charitable donations to concerned individuals who wish to help. There is a cost of $10 to purchase and distribute a net for a child - free, because of the help of donors. The first two targeted countries are Liberia and Rwanda.
Ten dollars buys a lot of hope, it buys a life.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 16, 2006
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