South Africa on Monday welcomed the World Health Organization's (WHO) endorsement of DDT in the fight against malaria.

The Health Ministry said in a statement: "South Africa is one of the few countries that supported and continued to use DDT [ dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane] to address... malaria affecting at least three of our nine provinces -- KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga."

Mainly because of the re-introduction of the use of DDT, the country had managed to reduce the number of malaria cases from 64, 868 in 2000 to 7,754 in 2005. Sibani Mngadi, spokesman for the department, said that the incidence of malaria had decreased from 15 per 10,000 people in 2000 to two per 10,000 in 2005 in malaria- affected areas.

He said the health ministry was concerned about the environmental impact of DDT, but was taking precautions.

"We are definitely worried, that's why we pay particular attention to the people who do the spraying, and ensure that the cleaning of equipment is done in a controlled way and to avoid spillage, that's also why it's restricted to indoor [use]," he added.

Quoting from a WHO statement, Mngadi said the "correct and timely" use of indoor residual spraying (IRS) could reduce malaria transmission by up to 90 percent.

DDT was an organic pollutant which increased in concentration as it moved up the food chain.

There are no substantial scientific studies so far which prove that DDT is particularly toxic to humans or other primates, compared to other widely-used pesticides.

The African continent carried more than 80 percent of the world 's malaria burden, said Mngadi.

Source: Xinhua