Health ministers meeting in Abuja are defending the use of the chemical, dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane, or DDT, as an insecticide to control mosquitoes on the continent.

The draft declaration of a special summit of African Union on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Abuja compels African countries to "strengthen the use of effective insecticides for control and elimination and malaria, including DDT where it is suitable."

Suitability of DDT comes into question because the chemical, used as an agricultural pesticide, is a persistent environmental pollutant.

Nigeria has proposed to use the chemical as an insecticide of choice in its larvicide programme.

Nigeria's health minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, admitted the inclusion of DDT in the draft declaration "appears to have raised controversies."

"But [World Health Organisation] has cleared it [DDT] for use in countries where mosquitoes are sensitive to insecticide.

"DDT is used in a number of countries. For the health sector, it is usned only indoors, not in agricultural sector. That's why it was added," he said.

Delegates want the African Union to categorically state its stand on the chemical, and South Africa has backed its use.

South Africa said Africa's decision to use DDT in malaria control was dragged into political intrigue while millions remain susceptible to the disease.

It noted countries that have managed to control malaria in the past did use DDT.