and Integrated Pest Management - part - usaid

PESTICIDE POISONING DATA COLLECTION IN TIlE
PHILIPPINES
C. P. Castafieda
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology
College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila
547 Pedro Gil St., Nanila, Philippines 2801
The Philippines is a developing country with, a population of about 52
million and an economy which is agriculture-based. The use of pesticide has
assumed a very important role in agriculture and public health programs. The
deniand for pesticides has increased steadily, parallel with the government's
massive program to expand agricultural production.
It is unl'ortunllte that the technology of pesticide safety has not paralleled the
transfer of agricultural technology in the country. There have been reports of
acute pesticide poisoning cases at home, in formulating plants, and in the field.
In Nueva Ecija, which is one of the rice granary provinces of the country,
reported deaths from pesticides averaged 38 annually between 1973 and 1977
(Maramba 1987). Casanova et al. (1984) cited 253 cases of pesticide poisoning
from four government hospitals in Bulacan fron 1976 to 1979, x, ith five deaths.
Bengu.t General Ilospital in the Mountain Province, which is a major vegetable
growing area, reported 97 cases of pesticide poisoning from 1980 to 1982 with
14 deaths. Records at the Philippine General H-tospital in Manila reveal that
pesticides, particularly organophosphates and carbarnates, have ranked among the
top three etiologic agents in acute poisoning since 1973.
Reports regarding acute pesticide poisoning in hospitals of the Ministry of
I lca th showed a total of 238 cases in 1982, 563 in 1983, 824 in 1984 and 79 in
1985. The incidence rate was 3.27 per 100,000 from 1982-1985. The type of
pesticides involved in these poisoning included organophosphates in 42% of
cases, organochlorines in 19%, and carbamates in 14% of cases (Table 1). There
was no information in 16% of the cases. Other agricultural chemicals, which
include potassium nitrate, urea, plant regulators and others, account for 2% of
the cases. Pyrethroids, chlorophernoxy compounds, rodenticides, fungicides, and
herbicides comprised less than 3% of the total cases.
Table 2 shows that the peak incidence of pesticide poisoning is in the first
four decades of life, with a slight predominance of cases among males ( 5 7 %).
As to the manner of poisoning, suicide accounts for 63% of the cases,
occupational for 18%, and accidental for 16% of the cases (Table 3). Case
A.1i:lity rate was highest for organochlorine poisoning (49%) followed by
organophosphorus cor pounds (16%), as shown in Table 1.
Through a memorandum of agreement between the Ministry of Health
(MOH) and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), all government
hospitals are requested to complete and submit pesticide poisoning forms either
quarterly or semii-annually to FPA. The Agromedical Services of the FPA then