Roy Innis on malaria (2)
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This is great! Finally we have touched the heart of the matter concerning DDT. Kenya is among the leading producer of flowers for the European market. This is great news for those in the horticulture industry, however, not so great for all those affected by malaria. As Roy Innis points out, the dogged pursuit by environmentalists and the EU to ensure that the fragrance of these flowers and other horticultural produce remain 'untainted' by DDT is probably the greatest travesty that has ever been visited upon my generation.
A story about the charmed life led by the French aristocracy oblivious to the circumstances of their people comes to mind. Observing the chaos caused by rioting peasants due to a lack of bread, the children of the nobility were hard pressed to understand the reason behind all the commotion. Their solution was simple - give them cakes!
If you are in Europe, don't forget to take time to sniff the roses ... After all for every rose there just maybe the life of a child taken by the insistence of the EU to ban DDT.
Karanja R.
mailto:RKaranja@kemri.org
Roy Innis on malaria (3)
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Robert,
The greatest travesty on not just your generation but all generations (in both developing and developed countries) now living is global warming, which is caused by industrial CO2 emissions primarily from rich nations.
Harvard's Paul Epstein attributes the rise of malaria to global warming - which by the way has led to a increase in locations where malaria occurs.
With regards to flowers and Kenya - my understanding is that Finlay Flowers of Kenya produces flowers with consideration for workers conditions. I have a contact in the region who reports that the plantations actually treat their workers relatively well - unlike most industries that export products to the West. That someone would not want traces of toxic chemicals on their products, which they put in their houses, is understandable, regardless of whether or not it is valid to spray DDT to eradicate malaria.
I am also not content with the references to America's malaria effort in Roy Innis's article as it is a different climate zone.
My view is that the issue of malaria like AIDS will not be solved with simplistic solutions and particularly those, which come from those who have ideologically based agendas. What we need is an integrated and holistic approach to human health that considers the how human activities associated with modernization have affected the health and the integrity of ecological systems of the planet in a unprecedented way. The changes that we have initiated in the planet through industrialization now are having untold impacts on human health through the increased spread of diseases like malaria as well as pollutants in the air in the water and in the soil and in the biomass and food chain as is the case with concerns about use of the chemicals like DDT. If we dont address these issues in a very rapid, then malaria while a significant health problem for many will seem rather insignificant in comparison to the total global impact of global warming, loss of species diversity, loss of soil, lack of drinking water, etc upon the state of humanity and its ability to sustain itself.
I do not have the background to say whether the costs exceed the benefits of using DDT only that I believe it is important that we look any widespread use of a chemical like DDT very carefully.
And lets make one thing clear - environmentalists are not always right and indeed many of them may be wrong in the case of malaria. However the scientific community is increasingly agreeing with environmentalists who warn that the way in which we humans are affecting the environment goes against our very interests in maintaining the ideal conditions to ensure the continued integrity and stability of our global society/economy.
Jeff Buderer
oneVillage Foundation
http://www.onevillagefoundation.org
mailto:jeff@onevillage.biz
Roy Innis on malaria (4)
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Dear Colleagues
Yesterday was July 4th, and I was invited to an Independence Day party. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate freedom. But at what cost?
At the end of the party I walked out with a well-educated New Yorker, who asked me what I was working on. I replied that I was helping to plan an integrated mosquito and malaria control (IMMC) program that would help address the malaria crisis in Africa. He was surprised .he was under the impression that malaria had been eradicated decades ago.
The level of understanding of the state of global socio-economics, the distribution of global wealth, and a host of other issues is a terrible problem. Misinformation ... partial information .... uninformed advocacy ... are widespread. It would be great if the power of modern technology, especially the Internet, could be used to help get public policy and relief and development sector practices so that we can get better results.
Using DDT responsibly in connection with interior residual spray (IRS) programs in Africa would save thousands and thousands of lives ... for sure. The risk of environmental contamination from this effort would be negligible ... and the danger to European consumers of roses and other horticultural products essentially zero. What is the official relief and development sector leadership doing, if anything, to ensure that the EU gets its DDT policies right, and furthermore, is pro-active to ensure that there are sanctions against corporations and groups that choose to put rose consumers ahead of the survival of African children?
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
Transparency and Accountability Network
Tr-Ac-Net Inc
+1-212 772 6918
mailto:peterbnyc@gmail.com
Roy Innis on malaria (5)
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Dear Jeff,
With all due respect, it doesn't seem from your sentiments below that you have taken much time to review dissenting opinions on: climate change (see anything Patrick Michaels at CATO has written or said on the subject(http://www.cato.org/people/michaels.html); the relationship between climate change and malaria (see anything Paul Reiter at the Pasteur Institute has written on the subject, notably this
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no1/reiter.htm);
and the toxic effects of DDT on humans, birds and the environment (see Richard Tren, Director of Africa Fighting Malaria's written testimony for the US Senate Subcommittee on Environment and Public Works here
http://www.fightingmalaria.org/research.php?ID=41
and Don Roberts of USUHS's testimony for the US Senate Subcommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs here
http://www.fightingmalaria.org/news.php?ID=640).
You wrote: "My view is that the issue of malaria like AIDS will not be solved with simplistic solutions and particularly those, which come from those who have ideologically based agendas. What we need is an integrated and holistic approach to human health that considers the how human activities associated with modernization have affected the health and the integrity of ecological systems of the planet in a unprecedented way."
It seems from the message below that your own views are dominated by the looming, overarching threat of global warming, which you deem, "the greatest travesty of all generations". At what point does a dominant theme become an "ideologically based agenda"?
The evidence on DDT has been carefully reviewed for decades. In spite of the tremendous and entirely unsuccessful effort to prove that it does more harm than good, it has managed to remain exempted for international public health application in the Stockholm Treaty since 1999. Donors are now playing an unprecedented role in promoting its limited indoor use for malaria control along with bed nets and drugs among recipient governments. That's a fact, not an agenda.
Respectfully,
Philip Coticelli
Africa Fighting Malaria
mailto:pcoticelli@gmail.com
Roy Innis on malaria (8)
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Dear Jeff,
I am afraid that there are many things in this world that are worrisome and if one had the time I could probably find someone that says THE SKY IS FALLING. Yes there are people (scientists and the like) who claim that we have GLOBAL WARMING, that freon has burned a hole in the ozone, and that DDT has caused eagle eggs to have thin shells. There are a lot of scientists and educated people that will say it is nonsense. I talked to a Canadian scientist a few years back who flatly informed me that the freon scare that has caused R-12 refrigerant to go from $1 a pound to $45 a pound is one of many ridiculous stories that has been perpetrated on the US.
Environmentalists never tell you how they arrive at their conclusions, and do not take into account the natural things that are constantly happening to this planet. If we think that the earth is not constantly changing on it's own then we are being very arrogant about our importance in the grand scheme of things. Our history
on this small planet in the universe has a history of change, many times violent and sudden, others very gradual.
What I do know for sure is that Africa has a serious malaria problem, DDT is one of the weapons in the arsenal to stop this deadly disease that produces a 911 every day. I have talked to people that were dusted with DDT as children and had no ill effects and are still alive and well today. DDT is still used to this day in other countries and I don't hear a lot of gloom and doom about that other than the environmentalists who have an agenda. I ask myself why if DDT is so terrible is it still manufactured, why if R-12 refrigerant is going to burn up our ozone is it still manufactured and sold at ridiculous prices.
The environmentalist wackos have gained a lot of power over the years and it is not a wise career move for any scientist to question their conclusions or data, but some are and the truth is slowly coming out.
In the mean time ladies and gentlemen the clock still ticks and the people keep dying or are too sick to work and provide for their families. While we sit here and protect our little positions the people keep dying. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Have a nice day
Craig
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Craig Audiss
mailto:cybrcollectinc@yahoo.com