Forum dedicated to increasing awareness of green living through beneficial dialogue.

That's a staggering number of deaths attributed to mosquitos. Perhaps more attention needs to be directed towards removing the breeding places of the mosquitos. I don't think using eco-friendly chemicals is a problem providing it's used wisely and in moderation. Environmentally safe products are available that will kill larve before they even become adult mosquitos.

trouble is that mosquitos soon mutate into strains that resist whatever chemical. Far more sensible to spend the money on eradicating the swamps where they breed..

Stav... do we really want to wipe out entire eco systems just to get rid of a few bugs?

Personaly there are more pressing issues in NIGERIA than mosquitos... I would be very interested to see the source material for shorts quote of 300,000 deaths a year... At that rate the country will have no citizens in 43.84 years based on the World Development Indicators Database in 2007 Factor in their civil war and other natural deaths... that number of years is most likely drasticaly less.

My thought is that we need to provide education on how to protect yourself from mosquitos and start providing malaria treatements more readily. There are cures the question is why spray chemicals to kill the bugs when you can treat the people who become sick. The chemicals you will spray will be just as bad as the bugs themselves, Possibly worse.

EDUCATE AND TREAT.

According to a WHO report 12,984 total deaths in 2007 can be attributed to Malaria infection.

You can find the information Here http://apps.who.int/malaria/wmr2008/malaria2008.pdf /Page 99 of the report.

reclaiming the swamp land though and turning it into farmland by draining it, will in the end benefit Nigeria. THe whole of Africa suffers through famine, either because of the lack of food in their own countries or because of the influx of refugees on already over stretched neighbours.

Sometimes you have to take the less 'green' route. I'm sure the experts can figue out which part of whichever smelly swamp is worth preserving and keeping it safe. It all comes down to whether they want to spend the money.

Agree that education and better medical care would also make a difference.

to go slang for a moment... TRU DAT stav.

innit!


it always comes down to the money in the end Urban Forager..

What I found is even more staggering...it is death of 300,000 children each year from Malaria...this incudes feotus inside their mother's womb...one report I read said that almost 11 percent of feotus deaths in Nigeria are due to malaria infection.
yes stav...definitely your idea is worth considering because just using nets or insecticides will not stop the core problem....it is cleanliness that is the first requirement.

The problem in these situations is that there isn't a black and white answer; there really isn't. You really need to make a list of solutions and then do a pro/con thing to see what the best solution really is. Then the dollars kick in. I agree about education, but I also think there is a bigger problem with all those bugs.

I think ground level work is the first thing...educating people about stagnant water contamination and that being the breeding ground of mosquitoes....thn general cleanliness habits....giving hygenic and healthy food to expecting mothers....these are basic things that can be done and should be done on a mass level to ensure future generation a llife free from malaria.