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The national field coordinator for the IRS program, Richard Onen, has dismissed the farmers’ claims, denying that residents are under any pressure to have their homes sprayed. He also said it was a misconception that the program was not popular.
"The opinion changed. Only that we had those forces from the organic farmers, who were portraying the wrong image," said Onen. "But through sensitization, the community came to appreciate. In fact, the community was saying, ‘Let’s reintroduce DDT’ because they saw DDT was effective."
Onen is employed by Abt Associates, which is contracted by USAID to conduct the spraying. The coordinator confirmed that the group did have a spray-quota of 85 percent set by USAID and revealed that Abt had received bonuses for surpassing that target.
At the nearby Bala Health Center III, health officials are seeing the positive effects of the IRS program. According to the center’s figures, there has been a nearly 25 percent reduction in malaria cases from the peak month of August in 2009 to the same month in 2010. Bala nursing officer Kale Sam said the effects of the spraying are apparent.
"People who have taken the spray are no longer reporting any cases of illness with malaria," said Sam. "Most of the cases we are receiving here, they are those ones from houses which were not sprayed."
The UNETMAC lawsuit legally halted the spraying of DDT in Oyam and Apac. But the IRS program had already transitioned to other chemicals as local mosquitos began to develop a tolerance to DDT. In 2010, the courts ruled against UNETMAC and the organic farmers.
According to Dr. Charles Lugemwa, the program could potentially readopt the less-expensive DDT as the mosquito resistance subsides. With the documented effectiveness of DDT in the highly vulnerable Oyam and Apac districts, it appears the concerns of the organic farmers may be trumped by the fight against malaria.