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Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

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Regional information resources for<br />

pesticide research<br />

R. Fernando<br />

National Poisons Information Centre, General Hospital,<br />

Colombo, Sri Lanka<br />

Pesticide poisoning is a serious health problem in many developing<br />

countries. Making information available to health pr<strong>of</strong>essionals and the<br />

general public is essential in its prevention. In viezv <strong>of</strong> the success <strong>of</strong> the<br />

National Poisons Information Centre established in Sri Lanka in 1988, a<br />

proposal for a regional information network for Asia and the Pacific is<br />

presented. With international support, such a network would collect and<br />

disseminate information on all aspects <strong>of</strong> pesticide poisoning to national<br />

centres.<br />

Pesticides in Sri Lanka<br />

Between 1980 and 1986, the domestic supply <strong>of</strong> formulated pesticides in Sri<br />

Lanka increased markedly: for insecticides, it rose 106%; for herbicides, 214%;<br />

and for fungicides, 128%. Pesticides, by definition, are harmful to living<br />

organisms. Therefore, it is not surprising that misuse or abuse <strong>of</strong> pesticides<br />

has been increasingly responsible for illness and death among humans.<br />

Poisoning with chemical pesticides has been reported in Sri Lanka since the<br />

1950s. In the late 1970s, the national morbidity rate from pesticide poisoning<br />

was 79 cases per 100 000 people. Suicides accounted for 73% <strong>of</strong> poisoning<br />

cases; occupational and accidental pesticide poisonings were responsible for<br />

17% and 8%, respectively.<br />

In 1980, Sri Lanka's suicide rate was one <strong>of</strong> the highest in the world: 29 per<br />

100000 people. Only Denmark and Hungary reported higher rates in that year<br />

(31.6 and 44.9 per 100 000, respectively). An investigation <strong>of</strong> 407 pesticiderelated<br />

deaths in an agricultural area <strong>of</strong> Sri Lanka revealed that 373 cases or<br />

92% were suicides. It is clear that the common mode <strong>of</strong> suicide in Sri Lanka is<br />

ingestion <strong>of</strong> liquid pesticides.<br />

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