Symposium 29: Toxicovigilance to reduce poisoning and suicide
Tracks
Track 5
| Friday, July 17, 2026 |
| 11:15 AM - 1:15 PM |
Details
The most effective method to reduce suicide and poisoning is to restrict access to lethal means. Restricting access to dangerous substances reduces fatal accidental and intentional poisonings. While some substances can be identified as extremely hazardous before they are released, greater human toxicity is usually only identified after agents are in use. This session will highlight the benefits of active surveillance to identify substances with greater risks. This includes identifying more toxic pesticides, psychotropic medicines, novel illicit drugs and contaminated products.
Talks:
1) Reducing global suicide rates through pesticide restrictions in the Asia-Pacific region
2) The effect of means restriction on poisoning suicide - a systematic review & Poisons Centre driven scheduling changes
3) Detecting novel psychoactive substances resulting in hospitalisation and the EuroDEN project
4) Toxicovigilance for adulterated and counterfeit traditional medicines
5) Linking medicines data to deaths to identify drugs linked to suicide and fatal poisoning
Speaker
Prof Michael Eddleston
The University of Edinburgh
Regulatory action on hazardous pesticides: Evidence from South Asia for suicide prevention
Biography
I am Professor of Clinical Toxicology at the University of Edinburgh, Honorary Consultant Physician and Pharmacologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and Clinical Lead for the UK National Poisons Information Service.
I trained in medicine at Cambridge and Oxford, completing a PhD at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla. While a medical student, I developed an interest in self-poisoning in rural Sri Lanka, leading to a year-long clinical trial and co-authoring the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine. After basic medical training, I spent four years in Sri Lanka as a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow before completing specialist medical training in Edinburgh. I became a Senior Clinical Fellow and Consultant in 2009 and was appointed Professor in 2013.
I now lead an international research group focused on preventing deaths from acute poisoning while continuing clinical work at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Session chair
Nick Buckley
University of Sydney
Rose Cairns
The University Of Sydney
