NGO: No steps taken to prevent poisoning

Nagpur: The Thrissur-based Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India team, which visited Yavatmal recently, has released its assessment report. It observes that though pesticide poisoning had been reported earlier, fewer measures were taken to prevent poisonings.

Report has demanded a new Pesticide Regulation Act by integrating accountability, transparency and participation into all the steps and measures that arise from the regulation of the Act.

The team comprised Dr D Narasimha Reddy (director), Dileep Kumar (programme coordinator) and lawyer Barun Kumar.

The report says that despite widespread pesticide poisoning, there is no standard protocol for the best, appropriate and real-time treatment.

Referral hospitals in districts, where pesticide usage is rampant, lack specialized toxicology services, beds, antidote stocks and other necessary equipment and medicines. As a result, many public and private hospitals turned away farmers and farm workers who were suffering due to pesticide poisoning.

A panel of medical specialists, including neurosurgeons, should be appointed to examine treatment of patients suffering from pesticide poisoning across Yavatmal district, the report said.

Doctors and hospitals treating pesticide poisoning patients with only one or two antidotes. Atropine is the most common antidote as it is considered an universal antidote.

Pesticide poisonings are considered as Medico- Legal Cases (MLCs). If the procedure of MLC is followed, every 'inhalation poisoning' should have to be investigated by the police. This is not happening here.

Reddy told TOI that farmers and farm workers admitted to different hospitals are not being treated scientifically or rationally. They are being ignored.

Pesticide poisoning should be declared a national tragedy and should be included in the disaster list maintained by the National Disaster Management Authority. A standard medical treatment protocol should be developed at the national level, the report said.

"The Central Insecticides Board is responsible for advising the Centre and state governments on technical issues related to manufacturing, use and safety of pesticides. Its response to this episode is mute and invisible," said Reddy.

The report also said that there were no efforts to make agro-chemical companies and private medical practitioners accountable.