About

Acute poisoning is a long-neglected issue that results in thousands of unnecessary deaths every year. 

Our work aims to prevent deaths from acute poisoning in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) by developing new knowledge, diagnostics, treatments, informed policies and capacity.

Our Vision

To improve the clinical care of acute poisoning in low and middle-income countries, substantially expand LMIC research and Poison Information Centres capacity, and create a global focus for research on acute poisoning in LMIC.

Our Aim

To deliver interdisciplinary research addressing unintentional injuries and emergency care in ODA-eligible countries. To increase knowledge on how and where poisoning occurs, provide novel tools to diagnose and treat patients, and generate international guidance – all of which will be used by the World Health Organisation to improve global public health.

Our Objectives

Work Package 1 (Methanol): To test the use, feasibility, sensitivity, specificity, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a novel diagnostic point-of-care method.

Work Package 2 (Pesticides): To address the feasibility and community acceptance of pre-hospital antidotes; and epidemiology of occupational poisoning with novel pesticides.

Work Package 3 (Guidance): To work with the World Health Organisation to develop international guidance for management of pesticide poisoning.

Work Package 4 (Research Capacity): To strengthen LMIC clinical toxicology and public health research through teaching and experience.

Work Package 5 (Poison Information Centres): To support LMIC Poison Information Centres capacity building.

Governance: To ensure excellent project management, overarching Community Engagement & Involvement, dissemination and impact.

Impact on low and middle-income countries

This work will directly benefit countries involved in our research, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India.

Developing a regional Poison Information Centre (PIC) in Southern Africa will directly benefit countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, as well as South Africa.

The guideline generation, research training, and PIC capacity building work, as well as the results from our clinical research studies, will benefit multiple other LMIC. 

NIHR RIGHT Programme

The project is funded by the NIHR Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation (RIGHT) programme.

The RIGHT programme funds interdisciplinary applied health research in low and middle income countries on areas of unmet need where a strategic and targeted investment can result in a transformative impact.

Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation funding programme