Restricting Access to Pesticides Is Saving Lives!

Since 2019, restrictions have been imposed on selling and importing ten of Nepal’s most hazardous chemicals for public health, decreasing the number of pesticide-related deaths.

“Research has shown that there’s less chance of people who take pesticides as poison re-attempting again,” says Dr Rakesh Ghimire. “So, if it’s not easy to access on that first occasion, we can save lives.”

According to the World Health Organization, consuming pesticides remains one of the most common means of suicide, with roughly 140,000 people dying from self-induced pesticide poisoning every year. In 2018, a third of suicide fatalities in Nepal were due to widely available “plant medicines,” as locals call them. Since 2019, authorities have banned ten chemicals– eight that year and two more in 2024. The ban has since had an impact: by the 2022-23 financial year, reported deaths had fallen by as much as 30%, from 1,320 deaths in 2018-19 to 932 in 2022-23. As pesticides remain important in agriculture everywhere, the government of Nepal allowed a two-year grace period on sales and introduced alternatives for farmers. Nepal has since launched its first Poison Information Center, a 24/7 hotline for health workers who need advice to deal with various poisoning cases, from snakebites and carbon monoxide to pesticides.