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World directory of poisons centres

As of 1 January 2023, only 47% of WHO Member States had a poisons centre

Poisons centres are sources of expertise on the diagnosis and management of poisoning. Most centres provide emergency advice to the general public as well as to health professionals.

The first poisons information centre started in 1949 in the Netherlands. In the following decades there was an expansion in the number of poisons centres in industrialized countries in the Americas, Europe and Australasia. This was driven by the rapid increase in the development of new drugs and chemical products after the Second World War, and an associated increase in the incidence of poisoning. Since most health professionals were unfamiliar with the management of poisoning the need arose for a source of readily accessible, expert advice.

 

In addition to providing emergency advice on the management of poisoning cases, poisons centres compile data on toxic exposures and on toxic substances. They have important roles in chemical safety and public health, which include: characterizing the epidemiology of poisoning to prioritize preventive efforts; advising on the management of the health impacts of chemical incidents; surveillance of chemical exposures; and acting as sentinels to detect chemical release. Through these roles poisons centres contribute to national capacities for implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005).

 

The establishment of poisons centres has been recognized as a priority need in successive intergovernmental fora starting with Agenda 21 agreed at UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio Conference) in 1992, and more recently in the Global Plan of Action agreed by the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM1) in 2007 for the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). Furthermore, the establishment and strengthening of poisons centres is one of the priority actions for governments included in the Road map to enhance health sector engagement in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management towards the 2020 goal and beyond. This road map was approved by the Seventieth World Health Assembly in decision WHA70(23).

 

Over the last decades there has been limited progress in establishing poisons centres, and as of February 2019, only 47% of Member States had a poisons centre, with the most notable gaps being in the African, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions.


Directory of poison control centres

A poisons centre is a specialized unit that advises on, and assists with, the prevention, diagnosis and management of poisoning. The structure and function of poisons centres varies around the world, however, at a minimum a poisons centre is an information service. Some poisons centres may also include a toxicology laboratory and/or a clinical treatment unit.

Related indicators

Scatter Map
Table
Indicator name:
Poisoning (unintentional) - attributed mortality rate (per 100 000 population)
Data type:
Rate
Indicator Id:
4666
Topic:
Mortality and burden of disease
Rationale:
 Measuring how many people die each year from unintentional poisonings provides an indication of the extent of inadequate management of hazardous chemicals and pollution, and of the effectiveness of a country’s health system. Cause-of-death statistics help health authorities determine their focus for public health actions.  
Definition:
 Number of deaths from unintentional poisonings (by age and sex), for the year indicated.
Disaggregation:
Cause, Age, Sex
M&E Framework:
Impact
Method of estimation:
The estimates are derived from the WHO Global Health Estimates (GHE). Detailed methods are available here, and summarized below. For countries with a high-quality vital registration system including information on cause of death, the vital registration that member states submit to the WHO Mortality Database were used, with adjustments where necessary, e.g. for under-reporting of deaths, unknown age and sex, and ill-defined causes of deaths. For countries without high-quality death registration data, cause of death estimates are calculated using other data, including household surveys with verbal autopsy, sample or sentinel registration systems, or special studies. These estimates represent the best estimates of WHO, computed using standard categories, definitions and methods to ensure cross-country comparability, and may not be the same as official national estimates. Due to changes in input data and methods, the revisions of GHE are not comparable to previously published WHO estimates.
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Weighted average using population estimates from the World Population Prospect, produced by the UN Population Division, as denominators.
Other possible data sources:
Civil registration with complete coverage
Household surveys
Special studies
Sample or sentinel registration systems
Population census
Surveillance systems; All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999)
Preferred data sources:
Civil registration with complete coverage and medical certification of cause of death
Unit of Measure:
Deaths
Expected frequency of data dissemination:
Every 2-3 years
Comments:
High-income countries have systems in place for collecting information on causes of death in the population. Many low- and middle-income countries do not have such systems, and the numbers of deaths from specific causes have to be estimated from incomplete data. Improvements in producing high quality cause-of-death data are crucial for improving health and reducing preventable deaths in these countries. Please refer to the Global Health Estimates methods document for more details, including confidence intervals for comparisons of age-specific rates across countries or time.
Contact person email:
pruessa@who.int
Name:
Annette Pruss-Ustun
Links:
World Population Prospects (UN Population Division)
Global health estimates: Leading causes of death
WHO methods and data sources for country-level causes of death, 2000-2019
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators
Indicator Metadata Registry List
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