DDT: The fallen angel

Abstract

Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) was at one time highly efficient in malaria control. However, it has lost its effectiveness in vector control and collateral benefits of killing nuisance insects. Malaria control in rural India is based on the indoor residual spraying of insecticides. The principal insecticide used in malaria control is DDT. It has been banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) auspices in May 2001. The position of the World Health Organization (WHO) for DDT is the mirror image of UNEP. The Stockholm Convention makes provision for the use of DDT in genuine cases. India has sought exemption for the use of DDT in vector control. This article examines the role of DDT in malaria vector control and argues that DDT-spraying produces diminishing returns and eventually becomes counterproductive. Instead, the National Anti-Malaria Programme will do well by abiding with the UNEP/WHO call, reducing reliance on DDT and changing over to the bioenvironmental methods, and investing resources in research and development in the foreseeable future.