Demographic risk factors in pesticide related suicides in Sri Lanka

Demographic risk factors in pesticide related suicides in Sri Lanka.

1 2 A leading method of committing suicide in Sri Lanka is ingestion of pesticides, which are readily available in rural farming households. Self poisoning kills more people in rural Sri Lanka than ischemic heart disease and tropical diseases combined. 3 Although acute pesticide poisoning occurs at alarmingly high rates in Sri Lanka, it is also a major problem throughout the developing world. T...

Rajabali suicides in Sri Lanka Demographic risk factors in pesticide related

Risk factors for acute pesticide poisoning in Sri Lanka.

This report describes the characteristics of patients with acute pesticide poisoning in a rural area of Sri Lanka and, for intentional self-poisoning cases, explores the relative importance of the different determinants. Data were collected for 239 acute pesticide-poisoning cases, which were admitted to two rural hospitals in Sri Lanka. Sociodemographic characteristics, negative life events and...

Pesticide exposure in Sri Lanka

Pesticides are commonly used worldwide both in agricultural and domestic settings. The benefits to society and agriculture are well documented. There are, however, dangers associated with the use of pesticides. Some pesticides, such as organophosphates (the most commonly used pesticide worldwide), kill pests through a biological pathway that may also cause harm to humans. Acute exposure to pest...

The impact of pesticide regulations on suicide in Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND Between 1950 and 1995 suicide rates in Sri Lanka increased 8-fold to a peak of 47 per 100,000 in 1995. By 2005, rates had halved. We investigated whether Sri Lanka's regulatory controls on the import and sale of pesticides that are particularly toxic to humans were responsible for these changes in the incidence of suicide. METHODS Ecological analysis using graphical and descriptive...