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	International Programme on Chemical Safety > Poisoning Prevention and Management

Poisoning Prevention and Management

Poisoning is a significant global public health problem. According to WHO data, in 2002 an estimated 350,000 people died worldwide from unintentional poisoning. In 2000, unintentional poisoning was the 9^th most common cause of death globally in young adults (15-29 years), and in this age group it was the 6^th most common cause of death in India and the 9^th most common in China. More than 94% of fatal poisonings occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

Snakebite is a largely unrecognized public health problem that presents significant challenges for medical management. While reliable data are hard to obtain, it has been estimated that about 2.5 million people are envenomed per year, and over 125,000 die from this cause (WHO Bulletin, 1998, 76(5) 515-524).

Accurate global figures are also lacking for intentional self-poisoning. In 2000, approximately a million people died as a result of suicide, and possibly as many as a quarter of these deaths resulted from ingestion of chemicals. In developing countries pesticides are frequently used in suicidal poisoning: over 60% of successful suicides in China are the result of pesticide poisoning, and over 71% in Sri Lanka (Gunnell D & Eddleston M International Journal of Epidemiology 2003;32:902–909).

The IPCS programme on Poisoning Prevention and Management seeks to build capacity in countries to deal with these problems. An important area of activity is promoting the establishment and strengthening of poisons centres - work carried out under the IPCS INTOX Programme. A world directory of poisons centres (YellowTox) is maintained. Other activities include the provision of information on chemicals, the provision of information management tools, and the development of internationally peer-reviewed guidelines concerning the prevention and clinical management of poisoning.