The Zambian government has secretly imported a globally banned insecticide that scientists believe causes breast cancer and reduces sperm quality for its malaria control program.
The Ministry of Health has since received the consignment from state-owned Indian company HIL Ltd of 114.2 tonnes of organochlorine insecticide DDT to Zambia for a malaria control program.
“This is the last phase of dispatch out of the 307-tonne order received from Zambia’s Health Ministry,” HIL Chairman and Managing Director S P Mohanty said in an official statement.
HIL, the sole manufacturer of DDT globally.
“India is committed to manufacture and supply quality products at reasonable prices to the Southern African region, which will strengthen our bilateral relationship,” the ministry added.
And Environmentalist Robert Chimambo has condemned the decision by the Ministry of Health to secretly import DDT.
Mr. Chimambo said according to the Stockholm Convention to which Zambia is a Party, the use of DDT, an environmentally dangerous Chemical has been banned.
“Why is ZEMA and Government now allowing the importation of this dangerous chemical into the country?”
Mr. Chimambo questioned whether Zambia is now a dumping ground saying the country is now awash in dangerous cancer-causing Chemical Fertilizers.
“Agro-Chemicals, Glyphoset, Atrizine, etc. Now, are we again adding DDT to this Chemical brew? What’s happening to our Country.”
DDT has not been sprayed in Zambia since 2010 when evidence of mosquito resistance to it began to emerge.
The pesticide DDT has been banned in the developed world for years now and in 2006, the WHO joined forces with the UN Environmental Program to completely phase out DDT worldwide by 2020.
And Dr Brenda Eskenazi of the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health who has just completed a review of more than 500 studies on pesticide and human health backed WHO’s decision to ban DDT.
Dr. Eskenazi describes the health problems associated with DDT: “The studies that have come out have suggested that there are associations with breast cancer, there are associations with effects on the neurobehavioral development of children, there are associations with spontaneous abortion. And there are quite a number of studies that have looked at DDT and diabetes and found an association.“
“But the most interesting work is working out of South Africa in a community where DDT was being used using indoor residual spraying where they actually spray the insides of the mud huts to prevent the mosquitoes from lodging on the walls. And they found that the men that lived there had a dose-related decrease in semen quality. And it was very profound, but there are also very, very few studies that have been conducted in the communities where DDT is actively being used in the method it’s being used currently.”
Just spray it on the houses of the politicians , then it will stop
Oh just shut your smelly mouth. As usual questionable reporting.
I quote “This is the last phase of dispatch out of the 307-tonne order received from Zambia’s Health Ministry,” HIL Chairman and Managing Director S P Mohanty said in an official statement”
Nothing in the above quote states explicitly that it is DDT that is being referred to. Being the sole producer of something does not mean you don’t produce other things. Very dull idlot reporters
Protesting malaria control because of over sperm count?? I agree with PF cabinet.
The order is already in country and paid for. And Chilufya can’t be investigated anymore. The Indian crook said that it was the final delivery. You are also confirming that the global DDT ban in 2020. So, where do you want India to damp their stock pile? You Zambians only complain after deals are fulfilled:
– Fire trucks
– Honey bees
– Junky riot trucks
– Keep listing.
Just spray the DDT, especially in Luapula swamps, too much mosquitoes.
Europe and most areas used DDT to eliminate mosquitoes and achieving zero malaria cases. They banned DDT to ensure Africa continues buying antimalaria drugs from their pharmaceutical companies.
Why should we continue losing large numbers of people dying everyday from malaria while a potent agent is available to eliminate the disease?
Can we concentrate on the cost/benefit analysis on the use of DDT instead of being dogmatic for the sake of looking learned!!
Europe and most areas used DDT to eliminate mosquitoes and achieving zero malaria cases. They banned DDT to ensure Africa continues buying antimalaria drugs from their pharmaceutical companies.
Why should we continue losing large numbers of people dying everyday from malaria while a potent agent is available to eliminate the disease?
Can we concentrate on the cost/benefit analysis on the use of DDT instead of being dogmatic for the sake of looking learned!!
DDT is not a banned substance for Malaria control, check the WHO website. The only advice is that a country needs to put safety measures in place when using it.
It looks like the Indians are offloading and dumping their stock and they are very lucky to have PF as stvpid buyers. How much did this poison cost the tax payer?
All the more reason for Africans to get innovative and stop importing everything from outside. DDT was originally invented by European scientists in the early 1930s to fight parasites attacking potatoes and other crops on the European continent. This is what we are still relying on to fight our little mosquitoes in 2020!! How helpless/uncreative can we be??
In a continent of more than 1 billion people, is there not a single scientist or chemist who can come up with a herbal insecticide which is not harmful to human beings? What’s the use of learning Chemistry at school and getting doctorates and PhD’s in University if you can’t use your knowledge to improve the livelihoods of your people? It’s a shame!
LT is behaving like Akainde or gutter journalism ensemble. Why dont you publish my posts bangwele imwe. You started blocking me when I wrote on how privatization thieves made thier money by stealing assets that wehere not in asset registers thinking no one will know about it. You pulled down my post and refuse to publish anyone I post, meanwhile you continue posting rubbish for dispora tongas who insult the president everyday. I suppose the editor must be from Illede kingdom
LT is behaving like Akainde or gutter journalism ensemble. Why dont you publish my posts bangwele imwe. You started blocking me when I wrote on how privatization thieves made thier money by stealing assets that wehere not in asset registers thinking no one will know about it. You pulled down my post and refuse to publish anyone I post, meanwhile you continue posting rubbish for diaspora tongas who insult the president everyday. I suppose the editor must be from Illede kingdom