Re: 鈥淪ilent Spring is getting closer,鈥� column, Feb. 24.
Although the book Silent Spring offered useful comments on being cautious about unrestrained use of pesticides, etc., it predicted an apocalypse many years ago and in that sense at least was not prescient, but hugely wrong. It joins a long list of unrealized doomsday forecasts, such as those offered by the Club of Rome.
Trevor Hancock refers to DDT specifically and, to be sure, it became a lightning rod for protests. As a result, it was banned in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, people in the developed world ignored the fact that, despite its shortcomings, it was by far the most important agent in the fight against insect-borne diseases, such as malaria.
In consequence, the incidence of malaria (which was more or less under control by the end of the 1960s) has ballooned. Since 1972, it is estimated that more than 20 million additional persons have died from malaria and other insect-borne diseases.
The World Health Organization recognized the seriousness of this issue and not too many years ago rescinded its ban on DDT in the developing world. This seems to have gone largely unrecognized, because these deaths occurred in the developing world.
Ultimately, this whole affair may be just one more case of the developed world legislating solutions to problems without giving much, if any, consideration to what impact these solutions would have on the poor of this world. One needs to be exceedingly careful of 鈥渙ne size fits all鈥� solutions. They almost always do not work.
John Sutherland
Victoria
