Colombia To End Herbicide Spraying In Coca Fields, Recognizing Health Concerns

NPR: Colombia Will End Coca Crop-Dusting, Citing Health Concerns
“…Over the years, Colombian police planes have sprayed [coca] fields with a powerful weed killer. It’s part of a government program to destroy coca leaves, which are used to make cocaine. Since it began in 1994, the program has received more than $2 billion in U.S. funding. Now, due to health concerns, the Colombian government has decided to ground the spray planes…” (Otis, 5/15).

PBS NewsHour: Colombia to end anti-drug crop dusting amid health concerns
“…There is a research arm of the World Health Organization which said that it could possibly cause cancer in humans. So that caused quite a controversy here in Colombia, although there had been criticism about fumigation for many, many years…” (Sreenivasan/Forero, 5/16).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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