Bad Blood

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Malaria parasites were first identified in human blood cells in 1880. Surveying a history of eradication efforts since then can feel like viewing a "You Are There" newsreel. We see test tubes and derring-do, improbable breakthroughs and scalding setbacks, good intentions and missed chances -- all set against a backdrop of brown skin, thatched roofs, and the incessant hum of the mosquito. What has changed? Today the concentration of international money and expertise uniting to confront malaria is unprecedented. It is as if a global indignation has set in -- part shame, part sputtering disbelief -- over our failure to relieve Africa, for all its woes, of this signature plague.

Not long ago, the late and esteemed Harvard entomologist Andrew Spielman was asked to name one item he would, if he could, supply to every malarial village in Africa. Spielman's unhesitating reply? A cement mixer -- for drainage canals, of course. They could certainly use one in Nyabondo, where the dirt trenches require constant upkeep.

What's been missing from this fight is long-term investment and a commitment by national authorities to programs that address the specific needs of affected communities. So, for now and the foreseeable future, DDT will continue to play some role as a front-line weapon in the malaria wars. But it is also a distraction. DDT won't pave a watercourse or feed a child or provide a job, and at the end of the day, malaria is a development issue. How well we understand this may determine whether the current crusade produces merely one more spool for the newsreel, or -- at long last -- an epic denouement.

Comments

Apta Good wrote on January 07, 2008, 11:22PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

As impossible as it may seem, given the millions of dollars spent on malaria research without any results, a humble scientist stumbled upon an effective cure for malaria about ten years ago. The ingredient for the cure is a common one, sodium chlorite, which is cheaply available throughout the world.

Jim Humble (aerospace engineer as well as inventor of the automatic garage door opener), discovered and tested the formulation while working in a malaria infested mining area in South America. He went on to verify 100% cures in thousands of cases in Africa.

Rather than collect earnings from his discovery, Jim has striven to freely publicize this cure throughout the world. His website is http://www.miraclemineral.org/ . Anyone in a malaria stricken location can easily test the remedy and verify for themselves its effectiveness. No doubt those with vested interests in continuing the flow of money into fruitless malaria research will strive to hide or ridicule this cure but its formula is now open for the whole world to benefit. Anyone with malaria (or other parasites) has nothing to lose by trying it since it's perfectly harmless to the body.

Larry Zuckerman wrote on January 23, 2008, 11:56PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Central Africa, I'm glad to see that malaria is getting the attention from Western researchers that has been long overdue. I've been interested in the DDT question particularly, because it seemed, at least until I read this article, that environmentalists in the developed world were deciding what was best for people they'd never seen or lived among, and whose struggles they had no concept of. I stand corrected on the merits of DDT, but I still wonder whether the solutions proposed have as much validity as all that, given the circumstances I witnessed. For instance, the bed nets I used (and those I saw) would have been useless among most of the general population. They were suspended from poles stuck into a bed frame and tucked under the mattress. But most African homes I saw had no mattresses, no bed frames, and no bed poles. They were huts with packed dirt floors, and people slept on straw mats. Granted, much may have changed in thirty years, but unless the nets come in different designs, I'd doubt that they'd be worth much in that country. Similarly, the author of this article talks of ponds stocked with tilapia, and how wonderful they'd be, and if we only spent a fraction of the money on keeping the ponds that we spend on malaria R&D or development, we'd get somewhere. Maybe, but my Peace Corps buddies who taught African farmers to create ponds and raise tilapia in them--and whom I admired because I thought their work more important than mine, which was teaching English--told me that after they left the country, the ponds quickly fell into disuse. Finally, the author of this article speaks about the necessity of eradicating places where mosquitoes breed. That's all well and good, and my hat off to anyone who does it. But when every tire mark on a road leaves a rut where rainwater can gather, it's not so easy as that. I got a lesson in this my first year in-country when I decided I'd raise an avocado plant in an empty can on my window sill. Avocadoes were plentiful, the plants were pretty, and I liked the idea of greenery in my house. Within two days, I abandoned the project; the mosquitoes were landing and taking off from that can of water like planes at a busy airport.
I don't mean to sound defeatist; there's no choice about doing what you can. Only it's not so simple, which may explain why DDT seems like an attractive option to the people who are struggling with the alternatives.

James Mutunga wrote on October 09, 2008, 03:37PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

As a Kenyan working on Malaria, I throw my weight behind DDT. The disadvantages of DDT have just been politicized and many 'quack' researchers have continued to earn fat salaries at the expense of a dead child, every 30 sec! Its the high time we face the reality. Malaria is a disease of the poor BUT the poor have not been involved in decision making when it comes to what they may support as the best measure to control malaria. While the poor may not have the most informed answers, the 'educated' has used this chance to expand their knowledge on malaria through research, with no impact to disease transmission. We have enough tools to fight the disease, but politics and influence from the west under the guise of doing 'sophisticated' research has thwarted such efforts. The poor will continue to be 'guinea pigs', and suffer more as the rich undermine the effectiveness of DDT for malaria control. I am suprised that the GoK may see ease in having nuclear waste dumped into our country much better than having DDT for mosquito control. How many people will die if we spray tons of DDT in our land? Maybe < 100/year which is statistically far much significantly less than 2/min due to malaria! Lets get serious!
kamanikiole@yahoo.com

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