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Bakouma died in December of malaria. He was 14 years old.Environmentalism kills. Spread the word.
Bakouma was one of approximately one million people who died of malaria last year. Almost all of them were like him: poor, young, and African. And almost all of those deaths could have been prevented through vaccines, insecticide-treated netting, and (gasp) DDT spraying. Empirical research supports the indoor residual spraying (IRS) of DDT as not only safe, but the most economical and effective method for malaria prevention. . . Facing a mounting death toll across Africa the World Health Organization and USAID have recently lent support to IRS using DDT, but its adoption continues to be opposed by environmental extremists relying on shoddy science and fearmongering.
(H/T: Protein Wisdom.)
Stacy:
ReplyDeleteIt's worse than that. The guy that started it all knew it was BS. Kind of like Global Warming. Unintended consequences of irrational thinking.
Isn't DDT now pretty much useless, as the mosquitoes have become immune? I agree with the point though. Even if DDT was as dangerous as they say (which it probably wasn't, but let's grant it for the sake of argument), it only resulted in a handful of deaths, as opposed to the millions it saved. How can one pit 5 deaths against 5 million? Oh, right, those 5 deaths were in Canada and the U.S., while the 5 million were in places that are unimportant.
ReplyDeletePatrick, it has been decades since mosquitoes have been exposed to DDT regularly. They aren't immune.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of a set of issues that have infuriated me for years. Now that we in the US and Europe have drained the swamps, defeated malaria and yellow fever, killed off enough wolves and other predators that we may live comfortably and safely, our arrogant and cold hearted "environmentalists" demand that the poor of the undeveloped world "live in harmony with disease and predation." Who do these bigots think they are.
Patrick:
ReplyDeleteIIRC, they banned DDT because it was alleged that it caused the egg shells of bald eagles to crack, thereby causing their populations to decline. This is from the same people that are pro-abortion. They care more about Eagle Eggs than human fetuses, but I digress. It turns out it was rubbish.