London Hosts Regulatory Vector Control Workshop

Editor’s note: Frances McKim, editor of UK-based Pest magazine, filed the following report after attending the IPHP workshop in London.

LONDON — More than 100 international delegates from nearly 20 countries attended the three-day International Public Health Pesticides Workshop, hosted by The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).

Organized jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the CIEH, the delegates had gathered together to discuss ways to increase the availability of public health products designed for worldwide vector (primarily malaria) control.

Over 1 million people die of malaria each year, or put another way, 320 people per day in Uganda. Yet this figure is set to rise if drastic action is not put in place to halt these fatal statistics. Over the three days of May 19-21, this unique gathering of senior regulators, producers, public health authorities, and users was drawn together charged with the objective to identify ways to increase the availability of public health pesticide products.

In her opening address, Lois Rossi, director of the registration division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said: “Worldwide public health programs are faced with a depleting arsenal of chemicals. Regulatory control has affectively limited the products available, yet diseases are spreading in both developed and developing countries. New initiatives, new funding and new innovations are required. Regulatory authorities around the world are faced with the same problems. Our objective is to promote dialogue between the stakeholders, identify steps forward and to leave the meeting with a strategy and a plan to execute it.”

Historically, both pesticide manufacturers and regulators have concentrated their efforts on pesticides destined for agricultural use. Public health uses have been treated as a spin-off from agriculture. International regulatory organizations, such as the EPA, have evaluated public health products on procedures designed primarily for agricultural products. Morteza Zaim from the WHO pesticide evaluation scheme, based in Switzerland explained that many WHO member countries have systems set-up to cover agricultural chemicals, yet have nothing in place for biocides.

A startling revelation was that, to date, there has been no insecticide developed for public health which had not yet gone through the agricultural regulatory system first.

From a manufacturer’s viewpoint, the low return on investment in developing an active ingredient solely for public health use was revealed in a market survey conducted by Dalberg Global Development Advisors from Switzerland, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They estimated it took a minimum of ten years and at a cost ranging from $60 million – $200 million to produce a product for sale in a market estimated to be worth only $750 million in 2006.

Yet all is not gloom. Vector control is now seen as a growing market – as a result the ingenuity of producers and regulators will find a way forward. This meeting itself being a prime example of the growing commitment.

Speakers from several of the leading NGOs represented who are more frequently associated with agricultural matters announced the appointment of vector-specific sections – these included Vincent Dartigues and Bernhard Johnen from CropLife International and Keith Dorschner from the Inter-Regional-4 Project in the USA. The US EPA is also developing a biocides-specific branch.

However, one need look no further than the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) to see what a step-change increased commitment and most importantly, substantial funding, can make. To date, nearly $51m has been awarded to IVCC by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.