A poison centre is a specialized unit that advises on, and assists with, the prevention, diagnosis and management of poisoning. It answers enquiries about exposure to chemical agents, including products, pharmaceuticals, natural toxins, pesticides and industrial chemicals. It provides an assessment of whether a particular exposure is hazardous, and information on the need for treatment and the kind of treatment that should be given. In poison centres, data on toxic exposures to chemicals and on chemical incidents can be collected.
There is little flexibility in setting up a poison centre, one needs expertise supported by a database and the access could be 24 hours a day. Depending on your needs and resources you could consider setting up one or more poison centres in your country. You could consider having a legal obligation for medical doctors to report cases of poisonings on a template to the poison centres.
Please select the relevant level of resource for your country on the left.