NEW ANTI-MALARIA METHODS

Grey River Argus, 28 February 1949, Page 7

NEW ANTI-MALARIA METHODS

Better Health for Tropical Lands

[From Louis Hunter, Reuters Correspondent at New York]

Improvement in the health and living standards of people in tropical regions of the world is expected to follow the application of new methods of the prevention and control ot malaria. The methods were outlined at a Convention on Tropical Medicine, held in New Orleans and attended by representatives of the National Malaria Society, the American Society of Tropical Medicine, and the American Society of Parasitologists. The Convention, sponsored by the Medical Schools of Tulane University of New Orleans and the Louisiana State University was the first joint session ever held by the foui’ organisations. It is regarded as a concrete indication of the increasing interest by American medical groups in the problems of tropical diseases. A fiveyear, thirty million dollar programme to kill mosquitoes with deadly sprays was stated to be drastically reducing the number of malaria cases in the United States. Another step described was a mass experiment in the Republic of Panama in which two new drugs were used with “startling” success to lessen the inroads of malaria on the people’s health and to increase their economic productivity. Mr Frank Tetzlaff, of the U.S. Public Health Service’s (U.S.P.H.S.) communicable diseases centre of Atlantic, Georgia, said that the present United’ States Malaria-Control Programme was making- “rapid progress.” The programme began in 1947, when, according to U.S.P.H S. statistics, the country’s annual total of malaria cases fell to 17,317, a sharp decline from the 48,610 cases in 1946. Another drop, to 8.171 cases, was/ recorded in the first eight months of! 1948, covering the summer season during which the malaria incidence is at its peak. The death rate from malaria in the United States fell 1.1 persons per 100,000 in 1940 to 0.1 per 10,000 in 1947. 1948 figures, still incomplete, are expected to show a further decrease. Mr Tetzlaff said that the basic technique used in the programme was to spray an insecticide —generally DDT —in places where mosquitoes breed and feed. These include lakes and streams, low, swampy areas, and the homes of people living in malariaareas. This process is called “residual spraying” because the deposits of insecticide retain their mosquito-killing powers for long periods. The spraying is done by trained personnel using equipment ranging from light hand sprays to mobile lorries with heavy power sprays capable of covering large areas quickly. The U.S.F.H.S. Technical Development Centre at Savannah in Georgia, devises improved equipment, studies the habits of mosquitoes, and determines the control techniques. The U.S. Government supports the scheme to a total on three million dollars a year. The Federal Appropriation is matched by contributions from State, County, and Local Governments in the thirteen Southern States participating in the programme. These are the States in which the majority of America’s malaria cases occur.

Through a public educational programme, consisting of pamphlets and explanatory articles in local newspapers, the U.S.P.H.S. helps to obtain the co-operation of the people whose home and lands are to be sprayed. Local workers, after being trained in the use of equipment, do the actual spraying often under the supervision of U.S.P.H.S. experts. Another methods of reducing the menace of malaria was described by Dr. Herbet C. Clark, Director of tae Gorgas Memorial Laboratory in Panama. Dr. Clark said that two new drugs—chloroquine and paludrine—were given in tablet form to groups of between 400 and 500 persons in three villages near Panama’s Gati.n Lake. After the drugs had been used for 52 weeks, he said, the incidence of malaria was reduced from a general average of about 36 per cent, to 0.6 per cent, with the use of chloroquine and 1.6 per cent with the use of paludrine. He said that the tablets improved the efficiency and increased the number of working days of labourers, who used the drugs to ward off the fevers and general lassitude caused by malaria. The tablets also helped to increase school attendance. In each test village. Dr. Clark said, there had formerly been one school-teacher on duty, but after the drugs were used three teachers were required in each because more pupils attended regularly. Both Dr. Clark and Dr. Harold Trapido, also of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, described how the use of the new drugs was likely to raise the education, health and economic standards of all peoples in the tropics. Dr. Trapido said that the Government of Panama had purchased one million tablets of the new drugs to be given to school children regularly, and to any other persons who would take the treatment. A programme t.o spray homes with DDT was part of the campaign, he said. The four organisations participating in the Convention have nearly 2,000 members. The National Malaria Society with more than 500 members, was founded in 1918 to stimulate among individuals and organisations a scientific ind practical interest in prompt and effective application of malaria treatment and control methods.

The American Society of Tropical Medicine, organised in 1903 now has 800 members and its objectives are to encourage original research and spread information about tropical liseases. The American Academy of Tropical Medicine whose membership includes about 100 scientists and prominent laymen chosen by election, was organised in 1934 to study diseases in warm climates, to co-ordin-ate American work in tropical medicine, and to serve as a clearing-house for information in the field and to receive and administer funds for carrying out aid. The American Society of Parasitologists, founded in 1924, has more than 500 members in the United States and other countries who strive for the “advancement of learning and research,” in their field.