and Integrated Pest Management - part - usaid

380 PIISCIDE NANA';IMIN"rI AN) [PM IN SOIJTtEAST ASIA
The concept of integrated pest control, even though it advocates reliance on
more than one pest control technique, includes the judicious use of pesticides
(FAO 1981).
Apart from their agricultural usage, pesticides are also of enormous benefit
in public health programs. The success of DDT and other insecticides to help
control veclor-borne diseases such as malaria has been spectacular. Millions of
lives have been saved, and the health of hundreds of millions of people have
improved as a consequence of the control programs initiated in the 1950s and
1960s.
In addition to malaria, pesticides have helped eradicate or reduce numerous
other debilitating and lethal diseases in the last four decadcs, including
trypanosomiasis, schistosoniiasis, filariasis, leishmaniasis and bilharziasis. An
example of recent success in vector control is the onchocerciasis control program
in West Africa, where operations in 1975 have led to the interruption of
onchocerciasis transmission in much of the area. In partictular, an estimated
three million clildren born since the start of the program have been saved from
blindness (GIFAP 1986).
The fiactors which dictate that pesdcide use in agriculture should be part of
an integrated pest management program are the ones which also mitigate in favor
of the use of integrated control measures in public health programs.
Nevertheless, it is the opinion of several expert groups tha. in integrated public
health control systems, chemical control will still remain an essential part
(WlO 1983).
The beneficial uses of pesticides in agriculture, forestry and public health
programs do, of course, lead to the presence of residues in our environment.
There is no dispute that pesticides, if improperly used or without sufficient
knowledge of their side effects, could endanger man and animals due to their
toxicity. There is also additional concern that future ha:ards to human health and
wildlife might be created by residues of the more persistent chemicals becoming
widespread, particularly in our food supplies. There is thus general acceptance
from industry, government and the general public that there is a need to evaluate
the toxicity of pesticides and their potential side effects before they are introduced
into the marketplace. The burden of proof of a pesticide's safety rests with
industry, which accepts government's duty to regulate the handling and use of
these chemicals.
The significance of pesticide residues to man and to our environment
depends upon two, interrelated factors, namely, 1)the nature and level of residues
in food, feed and the environment, and 2) their toxicity to man and to other life
forms.
The mere presence of apesticide residue does not, by itself, indicate a hazard.
Neither does a high toxicity of a pesticide alone mean that a danger is necessarily
present in the environment. Rather, both features must be considered in
combination. Both are studied in parallel during the pre-marketing development
of a new pesticide.