New EU Pesticides Regulations Will Undermine Fight Against Malaria - New Report

Main Category: Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 09 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The European Parliament votes on Tuesday on a proposal to tighten regulation on agricultural pesticides, which risks making many common insecticides illegal. This will have a devastating effect on the fight against malaria in poor countries, according to a new report from the Campaign for Fighting Diseases.

Effective malaria control relies on insecticides, many of which are derived from commercial agricultural insecticides. If these insecticides are banned in the EU, it is unlikely they will continue to be manufactured for public health uses, as there is almost no profit to be found there. Insecticide supplies will fall and prices will rise, leaving millions at greater risk of malaria.

Over 1 million people die from malaria every year, mainly in the world's poorest countries.

The new legislation could also prevent people in poor countries from using EU-banned insecticides. In 2005 the EU threatened to impose trade restrictions on Uganda if it used the insecticide DDT for malaria control, which is banned in the EU. Uganda's economic reliance on agricultural exports to the EU meant it was compelled to sacrifice one of the most effective methods of malaria control, resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths. The same will occur for the new banned insecticides, directly undermining the EU's support for the Millennium Development Goals - one of which is to halt and reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015.

160 scientists and malaria experts from around the world have already signed a petition urging the EU to re-think the legislation. Signatories include Prof Sir Richard Feachem, former head of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Prof Sir David King, former Chief Scientist to the UK government, and Prof Paul Reiter, a medical entomologist who has advised the World Health Organization and US governments on insect-born diseases.

Prof Paul Reiter, a specialist on vector-born diseases and an adviser to the report said: "It is unclear whether this new legislation can improve health or the environment in the EU. What is certain is that the health of millions who suffer-and die-from malaria and other insect-borne diseases in Less Developed countries will be seriously compromised if invaluable insecticides are banned from the market."

Philip Stevens, Director of the Campaign for Fighting Diseases and report co-author said: "The EU makes much of its self-proclaimed status as the 'the world's largest donor of official development assistance'. It seems perverse in the extreme that it may enforce new regulations that will inflict unnecessary disease and suffering on millions."

Click here for the report.

Notes

- The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday, 13th January on the pesticide regulation.

- According to one source, 22 active substances, found in scores of insecticides, will be banned under the proposals. See here.

- The UK government's Pesticide Safety Directorate estimated that up to 23% of currently available pesticides could be removed from the market. See here.

- The petition from the 160 senior scientists can be found here.

The Campaign for Fighting Diseases (CFD) seeks to raise awareness of the realities of diseases suffered in the poorest regions of the world, and the need for viable solutions for these diseases. Members of the CFD, including academics, NGOs and think tanks, argue for prioritisation of action at local, national and international levels, to ensure that time and money are used most effectively to save lives and achieve the best results with limited resources.

The Campaign for Fighting Diseases

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