3. Dr. Syrulwa Somah, Executive Director, Liberian History, Education & Development, Inc. (LIHEDE) and Associate Professor, Environmental Health and Occupational Safety & Health, NC A&T State University, Greensboro, NC addresses:

Private Sector Investment Symposium for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development in Liberia

Monday, October 1, 2007 at the Capital Hilton, DC

Theme:  Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Development in Liberia

Use DDT to Fight Cancer!

In the 1950s and 1960s, the US used the insecticide DDT to eliminate malaria from its southern states by killing the mosquitoes that carry it. The effort has been so successful that in 2002 only eight people died from this terrible disease in the US . In Sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, two people die from the disease every minute, a rate that adds up to about 1 million people per year.  Most of the people who die are young children.

Now, the news has gotten worse for this region of the world.  As reported in New Scientist, the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm, Sweden , recently announced that a protein produced by the malaria parasite can trigger Burkitt's lymphoma, a painful cancer.  Burkitt's is usually found in children who also have malaria, and scientists had assumed that malaria weakened the immune system enough for the cancer to take hold.  Now it is believed that malaria itself is to blame:

[Burkitt's] causes horrendous suffering. Immune cells turn cancerous and tumours develop in the lymph nodes, often making the tongue swell and cheeks bulge. One doctor described a youngster with the illness as resembling "a gargoyle not a child".

The deformities make it increasingly difficult for patients to eat. Burkitt's lymphoma proves fatal in parts of sub-Saharan Africa where access to necessary medication remains limited.

In her influential 1962 book, Silent Spring, author Rachel Carson argued that DDT had a negative effect on birds, and she portrayed the chemical as a dire environmental threat.  Since then, environmental organizations have worked to prevent the use of DDT worldwide. 

Few dispute that DDT causes environmental damage when used in large quantities as an agricultural insecticide.  But as people around the world celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Rachel Carson's birth, Silent Spring's DDT claims are receiving renewed scrutiny.  As it turns out, decades of research have produced no evidence that DDT causes environmental harm when small quantities are sprayed indoors.

Armed with this knowledge, African countries like Uganda are clamoring for renewed use of DDT to fight the mosquitoes that devastate millions of lives through malaria-and, as we now know, through Burkitt's lymphoma, as well.

The tough challenges of life in Africa have been made even tougher by the anti-DDT efforts of well-meaning but misguided environmental groups.  The World Heath Organization recognized as much when it reversed its own anti-DDT stance last year.

For Westerners, the question remains:  which is more valuable, access to a basic and affordable means of disease control that will save millions of African lives, or an environment without trace amounts of DDT?

RI Malaria Forum Flyer

(http://www.liberianforum.com/images/stories/malariaconference_flyer.pdf)

Liberian Students For Malaria Forum In Providence, Rhode Island, USA 

(http://www.analystliberia.com/up_stalwart_cautions_liberians_may12_07.html#malaria)

New Release (SAVE-THE-DAY)

Greensboro, April 11, 2007: The Liberian History, Education Development (LIHEDE), Inc. in collaboration with The African Alliance of Rhode Island (AARI), The Liberian Environmental Watch, The Liberian Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, and Friends of Liberia will jointly sponsor the second Malaria FORUM in Providence, Rhodes on Saturday, June 2, 2007 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm.  

The theme of the forum is “entitled: “The Liberian Case Study: MALARIA FORUM & “Working With Parasitic Tropical Vector Diseases.”  Its objectives are to strengthen working relationships among government agencies, NGOs, Community-Based organizations, associations, academic institutions, businesses and industries to ensure effective implementation of President Bush’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) program in Liberia; to develop an active civic society to ensure accountability in the mechanism for implementation of the PMI program;  and to ensure the program benefits the general population of Liberia, especially the vast majority living in rural communities.

As you may know, on December 14-18, 2006 LIHEDE hosted the first post-war National Malaria Conference on the main campus of the University of Liberia in Monrovia in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Liberian Ministries of Health and Social Welfare, Youth and Sports, Information, and Cultural Affairs and Tourism; BNetTV.com of Canada; US-based Congress of Racial Equality; United Nations General Assembly (President); United Nations Millennium Project; US-based Kill Malaria Mosquitoes Now Coalition; West Coastal Aerial Applicators, Inc.; Tr-Ac-Net consulting group; and AME University, Cuttington University  in Liberia, and University of Liberia. 

One of the highlights of the Conference was an invitation extended to officials of LIHEDE during the Conference by the US Ambassador to Liberia, Hon. Donald Booth, to join him at the US embassy to witness the historic announcement made by President Bush via satellite, naming Liberia as a focused county to benefit from the PMI funds.  Liberia is therefore expected to receive 2.5 million in 2007 and 8 million in 2008 to combat the deadly but curable disease, malaria.

It is against this backdrop that LIHEDE in collaboration community organizations will be holding a community forum on June 2, 2007 to provide briefing to the African Community and friends of Liberia in Providence, Rhodes Island and other its environs on the outcomes of the National Malaria Conference and solicit views from the public relative to a forward plan to engage and support the Liberian Government in the implementation of the PMI program in Liberia.

“FORUM: THE ROLE OF DIASPORAN IN THE CONTROL OF MALARIA IN LIBERIA”

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2007

• Travel Information to Monrovia for Christmas/ New Year

 September 30th, 2006

     "We Want No More Malaria" Rally.

• Click to listen to  Keynote Address: Mr. Paul Driessen, Senior Policy Advisor for the congress of Racial Equality.Topic: Economic Burden of Malaria on Africa
• http://www.bnettv.com/lihede/?vid=http://www.bnettv.com/lihede/Videos/keynotedriessen.wmv&sub

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