Why does the US Senate want to honor junk science which kill over 2 million african children & moms each year?

Question

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070524_1_A1_hHesa62017

"In my opinion she did more to kill more African children than anybody I know," Dr. Coburn said of the woman best known for writing "Silent Spring."

"The fact is the result of that was tremendously negative for 750,000 African babies and kids a year, and another 500,000 pregnant women," he said.

According to a Coburn fact sheet, mosquito bites lead to 500 million cases of malaria a year with up to 2 million of those fatal.

"The majority of deaths are in tiny children and pregnant moms in Africa,"

Answer 1

Because its human nature to want to believe the problem is less than what it actually is.

Answer 2

Every government is free to implement it's own policies on the use of DDT. Governments CHOOSE not to use DDT, a decision which isn't based on a single report but on their own research and expert medical opinion. The US (or any other country) has no power to prevent the use of DDT outside of it's own borders.

Mosquitos are very resillient, the use of DDT killed many off but led to new more virulent strains. Unless every single mosquito can be killed there's a very real danger of exacerbating the problem even further than has already been the case.

Whilst the idea behind using DDT had every good intention, the scheme backfired and the problem is worse now than had it been left alone. This is the real reason why governments CHOOSE not to use DDT.

I spend last summer in Africa with a doctor friend of mine, we visited several hospitals and I spoke to surgeons, administrators etc. Malaria is by far the biggest problem but all the experts were of the same opinion in that the way to combat the disease is through better education, treatment and individual preventative measures.

Answer 3

The science or the author did not kill the African babies or their mothers, the malaria might have. The US senator trying to stop the honor is blaming one person for a centuries old disease and then pretend DDT would be the solution to eradicating malaria in Africa. I say the malaria MIGHT have as it is not always a deadly disease, so you also have to take into consideration poor nutrition, poor health facilities etc.

If anything there is some value in the research done, and if indeed proved wrong later is still a base for later research... From your point of view, newton's laws of movement are junk and so is he, as later they were proven to be inexact.

Answer 4

It sounds like you are questioning the validity and importance of the work rachel carson did in bringing to light the dangers of using an overabundance of synthetic organic pestisides. In the 40's and 50's when she was writing this, pesticides and other known carcinogens were being used with little regard to the chronic effects and brought about the whole environmental movement. DDT is now known to be relitively safe in small doses according to Dr. Coburn and the only reason we know this is because of Carsons work. Without it, people in both the US and Africa wouldn't be dying from mosquito bites but rather from birth effects, cancer, or whatever other problems have yet to arise from wreckless spraying of chlorinated organic compounds.
It's my opinion that congress is honoring her for the work that she did and the awareness that resulted in countless lives being saved from it.

Answer 5

Contrary to popular belief, USAID does not "ban" the use of DDT in its malaria control programs. From a purely technical point of view in terms of effective methods of addressing malaria, USAID and others have not seen DDT as a high priority component of malaria programs for practical reasons. In many cases, indoor residual spraying of DDT, or any other insecticide, is not cost-effective and is very difficult to maintain. In most countries in Africa where USAID provides support to malaria control programs, it has been judged more cost-effective and appropriate to put US government funds into preventing malaria through insecticide-treated nets, which are every bit as effective in preventing malaria and more feasible in countries that do not have existing, strong indoor spraying programs

Answer 6

The story would be exceptionally gut wrenching if only DDT were actually =banned= in Africa, as the articles states multiple times. But since it isn't the article, and whoever that idiot politician in it is, fail. At life.

Answer 7

Cause global warming kills Americans and that kills Africans.