By Devapriyo Das

It is unusual for an insect to take hostages. Yet, this is the reality of Lango sub-region, Northern Uganda, which registers some of the highest malaria incidence rates in the world; and includes Apac district, whose residents suffer an astonishing 1,568 bites per person per year from mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite.

When a programme of household spraying using the chemical DDT [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane] was launched to beat the scourge, gleams of hope -and suspicion- appeared. However, an injunction from the Kampala High Court halted the process after only Apac, and neighbouring Oyam, had been sprayed. It appears that DDT’s notorious public image, and evidence of its improper usage in Lango, is offering controversy, but little else, to a population paying a ransom in malarial blood.

Genesis of a controversy

“DDT is toxic to human health”, says Ellady Muyambi, General-Secretary of Uganda Network for Toxic Free Malaria Control (UNETMAC), a conglomerate of anti-DDT lobbies responsible for the court injunction. “We have scientific studies which have demonstrated toxicity of DDT in regard to human health and [know] it will affect the environment. It accumulates in the food chain and can be transported from an area where it was used, to an area where it was not. In all other African countries which have been using DDT, they have failed to eliminate malaria. Seventeen countries have tried it and have failed; now they opted to use other options. So we are saying our country should not rely on it.”

Uganda’s National Malaria Control Programme, under the Ministry of Health, actively supports the use of DDT in indoor residual spraying (IRS). Dr John Bosco Rwakimari, Director of the National Malaria Control Programme argues that “DDT is the most researched chemical on earth. More than a million research papers have come out. Of all these, none has come up with substantial scientific evidence that DDT is harmful to human beings or the environment. The only documented evidence of DDT being harmful to the environment is because it affects mosquitoes, small insects, like earthworms. As far as side effects on human beings, animals, environment in general, there isn’t any proven evidence.”

The writer and scientist Rachel Carson first drew attention to the effects of DDT in her seminal 1962 book “Silent Spring”, which sparked the US environmental movement. She argued that DDT’s presence in the food chain killed birds and fish, prompting, in her words, a “spring without voices” and hinted at the inherent dangers it posed to humans as well. Dr Rwakimari remarks “it’s been 60 years since Carson. So many studies have [since] been done.” Indeed, America successfully used DDT for malaria control and as an agricultural pesticide until banning it in the 1970s.

DDT in Uganda

The official turnaround on DDT was prompted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) approving its use for IRS in September 2006. It argues that by spraying the inside walls of houses, the chances of DDT flowing into the ground or into water sources are minimised. It was subsequently approved by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as a key weapon to fight malaria under the President’s Malaria Initiative, which has allotted US$21.8 million towards malaria control in Uganda.

Yet, DDT is one of twelve chemicals marked for elimination by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, to which Uganda became a party in May 2004. “DDT was never banned for public health, only for agricultural use,” Dr Rwakimari is quick to point out. “The Stockholm Convention left a window open for DDT use as vector [parasite carrying organism] control, for IRS. It’s unfortunate that during the ban of DDT for agricultural use. WHO also relegated IRS strategy to the bottom. It’s one of the best strategies for banning malaria; instead they pushed for nets and medicines. As far as public health is concerned, prevention is best and you target the transmitter or vector first if you want to get rid of the problem.” As part of a tripartite strategy, USAID advocates DDT as the most cost-effective solution, but also provides insecticide-treated nets and anti-malarial drugs through its Uganda programme.

“They are saying ‘DDT is cheap’, compared to other options,” Muyambi responds. “When you look at the requirements for implementing it, it’s not cheap. When we’re looking at cost effectiveness, we’re looking at the whole effect of the programme including health and environmental effects afterwards.”

Poor teamwork hurts the poor

The arguments seem rarefied in marginalised Apac, where malaria has had a damaging effect on the population’s health and economic productivity. The Hon. David Ebong MP (Independent, Maruzi) reflects the need to do something tangible about the situation when he says “I see no immediate option apart from the use of DDT. Having the highest malaria prevalence in the world, what options apart from what we have?”

At the same time leaders are worried that their constituents, many of whom are certified organic producers, will lose their markets as their products may contain traces of DDT, making these unacceptable to overseas buyers. Hon. Ebong feels the district must prepare for this by “diversifying our economic benefits by giving alternative resources” to producers. He is piloting bio-fuel production in Apac, confident that “there’s nothing related to DDT that would affect it. In fact it is surely the only way of running away from the market we’re losing from the use of DDT.”

However, the political establishment recognises that irregularities have occurred. Apac Resident District Commissioner Alex Jurua says “as a government representative, it was my duty to support the programme in the district and I’m happy with the result. [But] there were a few problems of course, relating to the involvement of different stakeholders. We had to struggle to be involved in terms of monitoring, in terms of what was happening in the field but also there was a problem of payments, sometimes, for the field staff.”

Hon. Ebong echoes the sentiments when he says, “we think we could have played a more stronger role in mobilising people to take it [the campaign] in a more positive way. That also determines the extent we were successful in running this programme. We could have done better if all the institutions and stakeholders were working together as a team; I think there was a big gap there.”

(Devapriyo Das is a Freelance Journalist and Public Affairs Consultant)

Elizabeth Kennedy
The Associated Press

NAIROBI, KENYA – Somalia is a land of a thousand plagues, with nearly 20 years of violent chaos and intractable poverty, Islamic extremism and failed peace talks.

But the crisis over the past 18 months is exceeding even the worst-case scenarios dreamed up nearly two years ago, when troops from neighboring Ethiopia arrived to oust a radical Islamic militia and support the Western-backed government.

The Ethiopian Woyanne troops, which many Somalis consider an occupying force, are seen as a root of the violence and not a cure.

“The nature of the crisis is much more dangerous now,” Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College in North Carolina, told The Associated Press. “The level of indiscriminate violence is worse than at any time.”

With no plan in sight for an Ethiopian a Woyanne withdrawal, both sides of the conflict are at a deadly stalemate — seemingly immune to U.N.-brokered peace talks, international pressure and even the daily carnage on Mogadishu’s streets.

This week saw a renewed explosion of violence with 30 people killed in fighting in the capital on Monday and at least 11 civilians killed during an overnight attack on an African Union peacekeepers’ base in Mogadishu.

The government, powerless without Ethiopia’s muscle, will likely crumble if their protectors pull out. And al-Shabab, a radical group at the heart of the insurgency, refuses to negotiate as long as Ethiopians Woyannes remain.

Many in overwhelmingly Muslim Somalia resent the government’s reliance on Ethiopia Woyanne, a traditional rival with a large Christian population and one of Africa’s largest armies. Ethiopia and Somalia fought a bloody war in 1977, and many Somalis see the Ethiopians as abusive and heavy-handed.

Neither side has shown regard for civilians who stream out of the capital in droves, many of them gravely wounded and taking shelter by roadsides or sneaking into neighboring countries. A local human rights group says the insurgency has killed more than 9,000 civilians to date.

The streets of Mogadishu, a once-beautiful seaside city, are now bullet-scarred and stained with blood.

“If your principal interest is quelling the political violence then an Ethiopian a Woyanne withdrawal will help,” Menkhaus said. “That will take away the principal grievance.”

But a pullout is unlikely, as the militants appear to be gaining strength and sidelining the government, just as they did during their six-month rule in 2006. The group, al-Shabab, or “The Youth,” has taken over the port town of Kismayo, Somalia’s third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it, and ordered journalists to register with them.

Unlike in 2006, however, when the Islamists steadily took over much of southern Somalia and the capital, imposing security while demanding religious piety, Ethiopia is now standing in the way of any truly significant rebel advances in power.

“The Ethiopians Woyannes will make it impossible for the Islamists,” said Daud Aweys, a Nairobi-based Somalia analyst. “The Ethiopians are more powerful, and they have more weapons.”

That means al-Shabab’s near-daily mortar attacks, suicide bombings and ambushes could very likely continue with no end in sight, with the goal of simply crippling and humiliating the government. Reprisals from government and Ethiopian Woyanne allies are swift and heavy-handed, but have not eradicated the insurgency.

The African Union has sent about 2,600 peacekeepers to Somalia. But they have a mandate limited to protecting key government installations such as the airport and seaport. And they are generally are confined to the airport because security is so atrocious.

The U.N. has tried to push peace talks between the government and the opposition, but a recent deal with a more moderate faction of the Islamic group seems only to have worsened the violence.

Al-Shabab denounced the talks, which took place in Djibouti, and did not participate.

“We have started building up our military strength because some of our fellow insurgents seem to have been corrupted by the enemy, like those who signed the so-called deal with the puppet government in Djibouti,” said Sheik Muhumed, a commander with al-Shabab, which the United States considers a terrorist group.

The Ethiopians Woyannes, meanwhile, are eager to leave Somalia, saying they are not meant to be peacekeepers. But they continue to pledge support for the government, fearing a radical Islamic state on their doorstep.

The United States has repeatedly accused the Islamic group of harboring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida and allegedly responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. America is concerned that Somalia could be a breeding ground for terror, particularly as Osama bin Laden declared his support for the Islamists.

The U.S. sent a small number of special operations troops with the Ethiopian Woyanne forces in 2006 and in early 2007 conducted several airstrikes in an attempt to kill suspected al-Qaida members.

But the U.S. has avoided overt military action in Somalia since it led a U.N. force that intervened in the 1990s in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including a battle chronicled in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down” that killed 18 U.S. soldiers.

Menkhaus and other observers say Somalis are being increasingly radicalized, blaming the Ethiopians Woyannes and the government for the extraordinary violence and humanitarian crisis. The fact that Ethiopia Woyanne is a key ally of the United States — a country loathed by most Somalis does not help matters.
___
Elizabeth Kennedy has covered East Africa since 2006.

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Britain has pledged 26.9 million pounds for drought-hit Ethiopia, where some 9.6 million people are in need of emergency food aid, its embassy said on Wednesday.

The money will finance food distribution, medical support, nutrition and water supply.

“We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia. That’s why DFID (Department for International Development) is making this additional funding available with immediate effect,” said Howard Taylor, DFID’s representative in Ethiopia.

In June, London pledged some 10 million pounds for Ethiopia.

The World Food Programme on Monday launched an appeal for 460 million dollars to the millions of Ethiopians affected by drought and rising food prices.

Aid organisations say Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, is on the brink of famine akin to those of the 1980s, when millions of people died.

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA – On Saturday, Sept. 13, about 75 people gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax (UUCF) on Hunter Mill Road in Oakton to view “A Walk to Beautiful,” a feature-length documentary film about women in Ethiopia who suffer from obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury. The film follows them from their communities, where they are treated as outcasts, to the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, where their bodies are healed and their lives are transformed.

Two speakers who had witnessed the work performed by the hospital also addressed the gathering. A buffet featuring Ethiopian cuisine was donated by a number of area restaurants.

Filmgoers contributed $8,700 at the screening. With additional donations forthcoming from the UUCF community, the organizers expect to contribute over $10,000 to the Fistula Foundation, enough to treat more than 20 women. The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital has treated more than 30,000 women over 33 years. Their cure rate is over 90 percent.

In Ethiopia alone, there are an estimated 100,000 women suffering with untreated fistula. The root causes of fistula are poverty and the low status of women and girls, whose stunted condition can contribute to obstructed labor, which leads to fistula.

Those wishing to learn more about fistula or to make a contribution to the Fistula Hospital, may visit www.fistulafoundation.org.

Source: Vienna Connection

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (APA) – Ethiopia on Wednesday named a hospital and a street after Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele respectively who brought two gold medals each in the 5,000m and 10,000m games in the Beijing Olympics.

Kenenisa Street is located around the same street named after Haile Gebresilassie, another hero in athletics for over 15 years.

The Hospital named after Dibaba is located around the outskirt of Addis Ababa in Kality.

The Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital is under construction under a Chinese and Ethiopian government joint investment.

The Addis Ababa city administration also awarded various prizes to the athletes who won medals for Ethiopia. Dibaba and Bekele received $10,000 each.