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

Table 1. Number of people admitted to hospital and deaths from poisoning
in Sri Lanka, 1988.
Type of poison Admissions Deaths
Organochiorines 1 280 95
Cholinesterase inhibitors 9 522 1190
Other pesticides 2 195 239
Other poisoning and toxic effects 9 677 836
Medicinal agents 3 331 47
Snake bites 6 843 156
Total 32848 2563
Over half of the full-time agricultural workers in Sn Lanka use pesticides. In
an agricultural district of the North Central Province, nearly 32% of those
admitted to hospital in 1983 were suffering from occupation-related pesticide
poisoning, indicating that this is a major problem in the agricultural
community.
The improper storage of pesticides can also be hazardous. In 1985, Colombo
and its suburbs were affected when the malathion stock of the Ministry of
Health caught fire. Over one million people inhaled malathion fumes for over
1 week; some people admitted to hospital complained of headache, nausea,
vomiting, dizziness, chest pain, and drowsiness.
Accidental poisoning with pesticides is also well documented. Drinking liquid
pesticides by accident, due to inadequate and unsatisfactory storage facilities
in households, and death, due to ingestion of minute quantities of pesticide
remaining in reused containers, have been reported. In 1988, pesticides caused
40% of poisoning cases admitted to hospital and 59% of deaths due to poison
(Table 1). This amounts to a morbidity rate of 79 per 100 000 people and a
mortality rate of 9 per 100 000. These numbers do not include out-patients
treated at state and private hospitals, patients admitted to private and
Ayurvedic hospitals, or deaths occurring outside state hospitals or before
admission to hospital. As many as 50 000 people may be poisoned with
pesticides annually, resulting in over 2 000 deaths. Because of this alarming
situation, health professionals in Sri Lanka believed there was a need for a
poisoning advisory institution.
Establishing a national poisons
information centre
In 1988, the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) was established in
the General Hospital, Colombo. Its main objective was to provide information
on all aspects of poisons and poisoning to the medical profession and general
public, 24 hours per day throughout the year. Between 1988 and 1989, NPIC
205