Malaria has claimed 800 lives in Zimbabwe since January this year, with almost half a million other people falling ill from it, according to the Sunday Mail newspaper.

A total of 39 deaths were reported last week, with Lupane and Gokwe North and South districts in western Zimbabwe being the worst affected.

The total number of deaths so far has risen by 74 compared to the number of deaths recorded during the same period last year and at least 450,504 cases of malaria were reported throughout the country and 13,489 of them occurred last week.

Minister of Health and Child Welfare David Parirenyatwa said the government would soon reintroduce the insecticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) to kill malaria vectors in all malaria risk districts to control the outbreak.

Parirenyatwa said DDT was used worldwide and had been found to be very effective in eradicating mosquitoes, the insects that transmit malaria.

Several countries including South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Eritrea still use DDT specifically to control the disease, which is the leading cause of ill health and death among adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa.

DDT was once banned and it remains among 11 other pesticides known as the "dirty dozen" that have served a notice under a new international agreement called the Stockholm Convention, which came into force on May 17.

Environmentalists said DDT suppresses immune systems and threatens bird populations by thinning eggshells.

They also said DDT and other persistent organic pollutants are built into the fatty tissues of people of the Arctic and polar bears and seals.

"We can not rely on mosquito nets alone as these are expensive and the majority of affected families can not afford them," said Parirenyatwa.

He added that the government would enforce the boning law on doctors and nurses so as to retain medical personnel in most district and provincial hospitals, the majority of which were operating without doctors.

There are 42 malaria districts in Zimbabwe, 26 of them are classified high burden.

Hwange and Mudzi are on top of the list of 10 highly affected areas because of the warm temperatures and moisture which create a conducive breeding place for mosquitoes.

Source: Xinhua