[asia-apec 936] Press Release: Global "NO Pesticides Day" Launched (PAN-AP)

[Tachibana Masahiko]

Below is a mail failed to deliver because of the big graphic file
attached, which I deleted on this reposting.

Tachibana Masahiko -- one of the owner-asia-apec at jca.ax.apc.org
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Pesticide Action Network

Press Release


Global "NO Pesticides Day" Launched

December 3rd 1984 will live in infamy.  On the evening of that
fateful day, Union Carbide's pesticide-manufacturing plant in
Bhopal, India leaked 42 metric tonnes of methyl isocyanate, a heavy
deadly gas, into a sleeping, impoverished community - killing over
2,500 people and injuring up to 200,000 others.

This December 3rd, 1998, the global Pesticide Action Network (PAN)
is launching the "NO Pesticides Use Day" in commemoration of the
hundreds who died, and the thousands who suffered the disaster at
Bhopal.  The Day is also to draw attention to the life threatening
impacts of chemical pesticides on people and the environment.

The Bhopal massacre exposed the negligence and culpability of
transnational corporations.  Union Carbide accepted 'moral
responsibility' for the Bhopal massacre, but then denied and evaded
any other kind of responsibility.  While it eventually agreed to
pay $470 million in compensation, for most victims this was not
even enough to pay their medical bills.  Since the incident, Union
Carbide has closed and abandoned its Bhopal plant which produced
pesticides for use in cotton production.  But it refused to clean
up the substantial pollution of water and soil it left - and it has
forsaken the tens
 of thousands of victims who must now fend for themselves.

"We can never forget Bhopal" stated Sarojeni V. Rengam of PAN Asia
and the Pacific at the launch of this campaign.  "Bhopal is a
tragedy that need not have happened. PAN International is launching
a day of "NO Pesticides Use" in memory of those who have suffered
at Bhopal", she continued.


As the years pass, the harms attributable to the Bhopal disaster
grow worse as now health impacts are still being uncovered.  In 1995
a neighbourhood clinic - the Bhopal  People's Health and
Documentation Centre, Sambhavna - was set up to help people still
suffering after effects of the tragedy.  "The clinic was started
from voluntary contributions from thousands of people around the
world who are standing up against unacceptable business practises
and corporate irresponsibility which caused such devastation,"
explained Barbara Dinham of the Pesticides Trust UK.

Bhopal however, was only one intense instance of chemical pesticide
contamination. The manufacture, distribution, and use of chemical
pesticides have for years had devastating impacts on people and the
environment.  Every year about 3 million people are poisoned around
the world and 200,000 die from pesticide use.  Beyond these reported
acute cases of pesticide poisoning, even more worrying are
the chronic long term effects such as cancers.

Of late there has been increasing evidence and concern over
pesticides that mimic natural hormones (known as endocrine
disrupters), possibly causing a wide variety of adverse effects -
not only on specific body organs and systems but also on the
endocrine system including reduction in male sperm count, and
undescended testes as well as breast cancer

While most pesticide-related deaths occur in the South, pesticides
also pose serious problems in industrialized countries.  In both
rich and poor countries, the effects of pesticide poisoning are
suffered disproportionately by poor and disadvantaged people.
Children are particularly vulnerable to pesticides exposure.

Commenting on the trends of the pesticides industry, Barbara Dinham
warned that, "the alarming consolidation of the pesticides and
seeds industries, and aggressive marketing of herbicide-resistant
crops being developed via genetic engineering technology, is leading
to a dramatic increase in pesticide use in developing countries.
This has accelerated dependence on pesticide use world-wide!"

Around the world, pesticide use has permeated even the remotest
village.  In the South, the availability of highly toxic
pesticides, lack of information and knowledge of their hazards,
aggressive marketing by industry as well as poverty, illiteracy,
and lack of health facilities in the rural areas ensure that
pesticides are a major cause of poisoning in farming communities.

This is why  "we need to take the 'No Pesticides Use' message to the
grassroots, to every village... every person needs to understand the
dangers that pesticides pose to human health and the environment"
stressed Luis Gomerro of PAN Latin America. Commenting of the goals
of the campaign, Sarojeni V. Rengam added, "the Campaign will not
only show the human and environmental hazards of chemical pesticides
but also stress that pesticide use is unnecessary in food and fibre
production".

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is a global coalition of citizen's
groups and individuals who oppose the misuse and overuse of
pesticides, and support the reliance on safe and sustainable
alternatives.  PAN links over 300 groups in 50 countries and
operates through 5 regional centers:

PAN Centre Regional Pour L'Afrique in Senegal, for Africa.
Tel: (221) 254 914
Fax: (221) 254 914
E-Mail: panafric at sonatel.senet.net

PAN AP in Penang, Malaysia, for Asia and the Pacific.
Tel:  (604) 657 0271/656 0381
Fax: (604) 675 7445.
E-Mail: panap at panap.po.my

The Pesticides Trust in London, England, for Europe.
Tel:  (44-171) 274 8895
Fax:  (44-171) 274 9084.
E-Mail: pesttrust at gn.apc.org

Red de Accion en Alternativas al Uso de Agroquimicos (RAAA) in Lima,
Peru, for Latin America.
Tel:  (51-1) 421 0826
Fax:  (51-1)  440 4359.
E-mail: rapalpe at mail.cosapidata.com.pe

PAN North America (PANNA) in San Francisco, U.S.A, for North
America.
Tel:  (1-415) 981 1771
Fax:  (1-415) 981 1991.
E-mail: Panna at econet.apc.org

For more information do contact the regional centre nearest you.