(Dakar)

During the Third Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention this week in Dakar, Senegal, the Director of the World Health Organization Office on Public Health and Environment Dr Maria Neira stated categorically that WHO strongly supports the Stockholm Convention, and is committed to reducing reliance on DDT in malaria control.

The Stockholm Convention is an international treaty calling for the phaseout of Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) chemicals. DDT is among the original 12 chemicals listed by the treaty. The Convention, also known as the “POPs Treaty,” has been adopted by 143 countries and is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Scientific studies link DDT to miscarriages, failure to breastfeed, male infertility, abnormalities in sexual organs, developmental delays in children, and is listed by U.S. EPA as a “probable” carcinogen.  DDT is transported globally by wind and water, concentrating in the polar regions where it builds up in marine mammals and other traditional foods of indigenous communities. DDT and its breakdown products, which are also linked to health risks, persist in the environment for decades.

WHO’s Dr. Neira addressed a large audience of government officials from around the world at a WHO/UNEP event in Dakar entitled “Reducing Reliance on DDT While Strengthening Malaria Control.” She affirmed that WHO’s goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate use of DDT, in accordance with the Stockholm Convention. She stressed that this has been the case since the Convention came into existence, and the WHO position on DDT has not changed.

Dr. Neira also confirmed the agency’s awareness of negative health effects associated with DDT, and that WHO is “very much concerned with health consequences [resulting from] use of DDT.” She said that “

WHO and UNEP announced that since the signing of the Stockholm Convention, use of DDT has doubled. Many countries still apply the chemical with a blanket spray, rather than selectively as required by WHO guidelines, due to the severe lack of financial and technical resources in many countries with malaria problems.

A UNEP speaker emphasized that Integrated Vector Management should be the centrepiece of efforts to reduce DDT, with the use of other pesticides as a last option in cases where non-chemical controls are not sufficient. Dr. Lucien Manga of WHO African Regional office said WHO has a clear policy of using Integrated Vector Management programs to control malaria, and that this approach combines engagement with local communities; knowledge of the local factors that influence disease transmission; and use of a range of interventions that in combination “need to demonstrate the effectiveness of alternatives in their own country.”

WHO spokespersons also stressed the need for a “global business plan to develop new alternatives” and “to strengthen collaboration south to south.”

The workshop also heard from Dr. Enrique Loyola of the Pan American Health Organization about a malaria control project in Mexico that greatly reduced malaria without using DDT, achieving a 30% reduction at the village level, and a 50% reduction at the national level. Methods included public education, planting trees with mosquito repellent properties near homes and clearing away vegetation that might harbour mosquitoes, plastering homes with mosquito–repelling calcium hydroxide (lime), personal hygiene measures, cleaning canals and removing algae that serves as a mosquito refuge, and use of larvicides such as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). Mexico no longer uses DDT for vector control, and is now seeking to reduce use of other chemicals in vector management.

Representatives of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) told WHO officials that when members of IPEN make similar statements about DDT, they are vilified and denounced as extremists in the press, often referencing previous WHO statements. They invited WHO to publicly state the agency’s concern about the health effects of DDT. They said that IPEN member organizations were anxious to work with WHO to help control malaria, but were being hampered by the perception that the WHO supports and defends increased use of DDT. This perception was created by coverage of a WHO position stated in September 2006, one very different from the WHO presentation in Dakar.

Contact: Stephenie Hendricks 415 981-1771 ext 355 stephenie@panna.org

Available for interviews:
Dr. Medha Chandra, PANNA 415 981-1771 ext 327 mchandra@panna.org
Henry Diouf, PAN Afrique + 221 637 12 08 henrydiouf@pan-afrique.org
Dr. Paul Saoke, Physicians for Social Responsibility – Kenya psaoke@isde.org, call Stephenie Hendricks, PANNA, 415 981-1771 ext 355 and she will give you Dr. Saoke’s phone number (he is travelling).
Monica Moore, PANNA, mhm@panna.org