DDT Preparation and Use in 1946 Health Campaign Against Malaria in Kenya

This is clipped from the record of the 1946 campaign to check an epidemic of malaria in the Kipsigis tribal reserve in the Kisumu district of north-west Kenya by spraying village huts with DDT. The film, titled DDT Versus Malaria: A Successful Experiment in Malaria Control (1947), by the Kenya Medical Department, is a 25-minute, black-and-white documentary and is a valuable historical artifact, highlighting the role of DDT in fighting malaria, as well as a case study in public health filmmaking. The film outlines the 1946 campaign to check a malaria epidemic among the Kipsigis tribe in northwest Kenya. Kenya was still a British colony at that time and would remain so until 1963. During its inception, it was decided that the film could also be used for propaganda purposes and modern audiences will find its tone jarringly patronising in places. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a potent insecticide that was used worldwide for agricultural and public health purposes from the 1940s until the 1970s, when concern about its toxic effects on wildlife and humans, its environmental persistence, and its concentration in the food supply led to restrictions and prohibitions on its use. DDT was identified as a potent insecticide in 1939 and was heavily used during World War II. After the war, DDT became the global insecticide of choice in households, for agriculture, and for public health vector-control projects. In 1962, Rachel Carson, in Silent Spring, noted that DDT bioaccumulates and biomagnifies up the food chain and raised concerns that the pesticide may have long-lasting effects on wildlife and on humans. For an interesting discussion of the historical role of this film, read Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw's article Malaria Films: Motion Pictures as a Public Health Tool, July 2003 in the American Journal of Public Health at ajph.aphapublic... .
For a recent review of the hazards of DDT, read the The Pine River Statement: Human Health Consequences of DDT Use at: ehp03.niehs.nih... . The entire film is available at the Wellcome Library at library.wellcom... .