SHARON STONE, MALARIA NETS, AND DDT

BY Joan Veon 

 

 

 

Davos, Switzerland - At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Chair and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University chided the world for not taking quick enough action to rid the world of malaria.  Calling malaria a “silent tsunami,” he said the number of cases is up to 1 billion and not 500,000.  Sachs said a huge mobilization the size of a continent was needed. Dr. Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria told Worldnetdaily that the reason why malaria has returned to Africa in epidemic proportions is because they stopped using DDT based on environmental opinion. 

 

Now, the world community is looking to find dollars to fund the needed medicines and treatment, including DDT as soon as possible.  Because countries stopped using DDT after environmental pressure, the needed quantities are not available.  Feachem said treatment for malaria is a four-step process which includes one bed net per family with one for every family member preferably,  diagnosis with the right drug, treatment for pregnant women, and vector control—indoor residual spraying with DDT.  Feachem admitted, “We must prevent the northern environmental lobby from preventing the use of DDT in malaria control.”

  

At the five day Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum there has been tremendous emphasis on the needs of poverty and disease stricken Africa.  World figures such as Bill Gates, Bono, Ted Turner and others have pointed out the pressing financial needs Africa has with a $3 billion a year price tag to treat malaria.  Many world leaders in Davos say Africa does not have five years for a global tax to be put in place as was suggested by French President Jacques Chirac earlier this week. They must have the money now.  Sumitomo Chemical Company, the inventor of Olyset, a long-lasting mosquito net, is working in close cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and ExxonMobil to ensure a stable supply of nets in Africa.   The UN Foundation, funded by Ted Turner, is underwriting several fundraising projects.

 

In a plenary session chaired by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that concentrated on “Funding the War on Poverty,” actress and producer Sharon Stone, moved by the plight of malaria in Tanzania, pledged $10,000 to help that country. She then challenged others in the audience to stand up and make a pledge.  Within ten minutes she raised $1M.  

 

To find money now, a number of G8 world leaders such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, and French President Jacques Chirac have committed their governments to increasing Overseas Development Assistance from its current level of 0.2% of gross national product to the promised 0.7%.  For America, this would mean an additional $55B a year.  Overseas Development Assistance is used for debt relief, technical cooperation, and emergency and disaster relief along with food.