The controversial insecticide DDT should not be used to fight malaria in Malawi because it reduces men's libido, sperm count and sexual strength, a report said Friday.
"The side effects of DDT in men are that men easily get tired, there is reduction in libido and sperm production," Andrew Daudi, principal secretary in the ministry of agriculture, was quoted as saying by the Weekend Times.
The insecticide is currently banned in Malawi but several MPs have called for its return, arguing that it is the best way to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The disease kills hundreds of people here every year.
"DDT cannot be a friend to men," Daudi said, using its scientific name Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane.
However, a parliamentarian named as R. Chirwa in the newspaper, disagreed.
"Should we be dying of malaria because men want to produce more sperm and because men want to have libido? These reasons do not hold water," Chirwa was quoted as saying.
Malawi's campaign to fight malaria by providing free or cheap mosquito nets has failed to curb the number of deaths caused by the disease, the government said in March.
Up to 7,000 Malawians died of the disease in 2009, with 4.5 million cases recorded.
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