Doctors pitch in for pesticide training

With an objective to promote the safe and judicious use of agro-chemicals, the pesticides industry, in association with Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Health Services organised a training programme for the benefit of medical doctors of primary health centres in the district of Ludhiana on Saturday.

Reputed medical toxicologist and an expert in pesticide toxicology "" D Kanungo (Government of India)"" conducted the training programme, focusing on various aspects of pesticide poisoning with different compounds, with different mode of actions, their typical poisoning symptoms, first aid measures, and antidote therapies.

"This is part of the APG series of training programmes for stakeholders including farmers, that are designed to promote optimal and safe usage of pesticides. So far APG has conducted over 1,990 training sessions and has trained over one lakh persons," said Indulkar, member, APG.

The pesticides industry has conducted such orientation programmes in various parts of the country, predominantly in agricultural rural areas of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Speaking on the occasion, Gurcharan Singh of the IMA said, "Pesticides are like medicines for crops, as they offer protection against insects, diseases, weeds and other pests. However, like any other drug, pesticides must be used in the correct manner and dosage. By training doctors, we hope to pass this message to the public as well as the end user. We are impressed that the pesticides industry proactively undertakes activities to spread much-needed awareness on this subject. It is a matter of honor for us to be a part of such an initiative ."

His training programme for doctors addresses first aid and treatment of cases of accidental pesticide misuse. During the programme, Kanungo elaborated on various precautions that were needed to be adhered to while making use of pesticides, along with first aid measures that were required to be taken in case of an accidental inappropriate usage of the same.