APP5Hinton,N-Environmental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

APP5Hinton,N-Environmental - Essay Example Malaria, which is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium is transmitted through infected mosquito bites. The disease can be detrimental if it’s kept untreated till a stage that the blood supply to vital organs is disrupted (WHO, 2009). The World health Organization has released some alerting statistics with regard to the outspread of Malaria. Their reports estimate that on an average one child dies every second because of malaria. As per the records of 2006, there were 247 million cases of malaria of which one million accounted to death (WHO, 2009). The most of these cases were from the African lands. Another alarming reality is that almost half of the worlds’ population is at risk of malaria (WHO, 2009). Taking an account of the economic damage that the disease causes, it has been estimated that almost 1.3% slow down is caused in the economic growth of countries with high rates of malaria incurrence (WHO, 2009). Up to 40% of the total budget for public heath is With re gard to all these dangers, it becomes much important to control mosquitoes, which are the vectors of the disease (WHO, 2009). The role of DDT thus becomes of much relevance. The reasons that have been pointed out in favor of DDT being preferred over other 12 recommended insecticides are its longer residual efficacy, the spatial repellency and the irritant effect (WHO, 2007). Resultantly, rather than killing the mosquitoes, they are repelled to the outdoor surroundings (WHO, 2007) However, the use of DDT has been proved to have many long term health effects coupled with damages to the environment, wildlife and the ecology in totality. There are a number of scientifically relevant researches which have confirmed the irreversible damages caused by DDT. The hydrophobic nature of the chemical makes it strongly absorbed to the soil and the green environment. This can cause irreversible damage to the organic base and the structure of the