Week 5 Discussion-Environmental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 5 Discussion-Environmental - Essay Example   DDT offers much more benefits in saving lives from the Malaria menace which are  Ã¢â‚¬Å"well worth the risk†. Amir Attaran, Donald  R. Roberts, Chris F. Curtis & Wenceslaus  L. Kilama. (2004)  The pesticide DDT was touted again as â€Å"the most effective way to fight malaria† after being shunned for decades  as â€Å"an environmentally damaging chemical†. The  World Health Organization announced its support  for generally indoor spraying of  the pesticide   DDT specifically   to control the menace of mosquitoes in high risk countries. [Nature, Apoorva Mandavilli (2006)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But this was not to be, and earlier this year, May (2009), â€Å"the UN agency quietly reverted to promoting less effective methods† to tackle the disease, which is definitely going to affect millions of the world’s poorest sections of society who depend greatly on this effective and affordable material. The UN officials are actually pushing for a â€Å"zero DDT world†, citing a pilot program, that reduced Malaria cases in Mexico and South America by using ‘chloroquine’ pills to unaffected people,†. But the fact is that ‘chloroquine’ is more effective in therapeutic use. In fact, scientists have reservations about the safety of the drug as it has proven to be toxic and can cause heart problems. This drug was effective in the sub-Saharan Africa, where maximum death occurs due to Malaria, but it started failing during 1970’s as the parasite developed resistance against the drug. Even if these drugs worked, they are very expensive for people to afford them and so impractical to be used especially for some of the poorest regions around the world.   So it shows that spraying of DDT is an integral part of  the effort to eradicate Malaria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although WHO has not totally banned DDT, yet by revoking its approval, it has made things difficult for the poor