Reuters AlertNet Lite - WHO urges ban on some pesticides to curb suicides

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WHO urges ban on some pesticides to curb suicides

09 Nov 2006 10:12:39 GMT
Source: Reuters

HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters) - About half of the people in developing countries in Asia who kill themselves do it using pesticides, prompting the World Health Organisation to urge governments to ban or regulate their use.

Jose Bertolote, WHO coordinator of mental and brain disorders, cited studies showing nearly everyone who committed suicide acted on impulse and their deaths could have been prevented if lethal chemicals had not been available.

"We have very good studies interviewing people between the act of ingesting pesticides and their deaths. More than 95 percent are desperate when they learn they are going to die," Bertolote told Reuters on the sidelines of a suicide prevention forum in Hong Kong on Thursday.

"They did not want to die, and that's the tragedy."

While people who take sleeping pills can be saved, those who use pesticides tend to be rural folk who would have died by the time their families get them to hospital.

"If in despair you drink pesticide, you die in three hours and we know from surveys the vast majority of these people did not have the intention to die and they did not know it would be so lethal ... all they wanted was some attention," he added.

In absolute numbers, China has the highest number of suicides in the world, with 250,000 cases a year, followed by India with 87,000 and Russia with 57,800.

But in terms of population-based figures, Sri Lanka leads with 36.2 suicides per every 100,000 people, followed by Japan with 34.21 and South Korea with 28.05.

More than 60 percent of suicides in China are committed using pesticides, similar to Sri Lanka.

In India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, between 40 and 50 percent of suicides are committed using pesticides.

Bertolote singled out organophosphorous-based pesticides as a main source of trouble. Although the substance has been banned by international conventions, some countries, such as China, are still producing, exporting and using it.

In villages in many parts of Asia, cans of such pesticides can be found right next to bottles of condiments, Bertolote said.

"Governments have to ratify the conventions and ban class 1 organophosphorous pesticides, make them illegal, stop legal production, curb illegal production and stop any smuggling of the product," he said.

For less toxic pesticides, he urged governments to issue better instructions on their use and storage.

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Last updated:Thu Nov 9 10:15:19 2006