The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (CPSP) is a philanthropically funded research and policy initiative within the University of Edinburgh, working to reduce the number of pesticide suicides worldwide. Image CPSP aims to identify lethal pesticides responsible for deaths and end their use through regulatory action. It works in low and middle-income countries, where pesticide self-poisoning is a recognised and significant health problem, in collaboration with national policymakers. The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention: Who we are, What we do (2020) A global health problem: knowing the facts An estimated 150,000 people die from pesticide consumption every year, making it one of the most common methods of suicide worldwide. This is a particular problem in farming communities in South and East Asia, where people have easy access to lethal pesticides which are sold locally without controls and stored in their homes. The act of self-harm is most commonly spontaneous, and the majority of people do not intend to die. However, the high toxicity of some pesticides means that just one sip can be enough to kill them. Since the Green Revolution, it is estimated that 14 to 16 million people worldwide have died from ingesting pesticides. The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (CPSP) is the first organisation to focus solely on this problem. It works to reduce the number of pesticide suicides occurring worldwide, with the aim of saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Discover more Read more about the project: Preventing Pesticide Suicide in South Asia Find more information on the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention Read the case study: Demonstration of the ineffectiveness of ‘safe storage’ in preventing pesticide self-poisoning changes WHO policy and results in national bans on pesticides in rural Asia This article was published on 2024-06-24
