Tobacco.org

• Big Tobacco Opposes WHO and Malaria Control in Uganda  

British American Tobacco plc (BAT) has emerged as a front runner in a corporate coalition opposing the highly effective public health insecticide, DDT, in Uganda. DDT has been endorsed and supported for malaria control by the World Health Organization and is being used for malaria control by many governments and several donors, such as USAID and the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. Yet BAT opposes DDT, claiming erroneously that its use in malaria control would harm exports. This unseemly episode sees big business pitted against vulnerable Ugandan citizens, notably young children and pregnant mothers most at risk from malaria.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 12 million cases of malaria every year in Uganda . . .

This view is confirmed by public health expert Professor Amir Attaran, who considers that DDT for malaria control is “not something that an intelligent or ethical company would deign to obstruct.”

Africa Fighting Malaria has written to BAT to request that it act constructively and support the Government of Uganda, the WHO and USAID, to ensure that the IRS program can be run effectively and safely.

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