Improving the availability of poisons centre services in Eastern Africa

Overview

This booklet presents a summarised synthesis of a project carried out to explore the feasibility of a subregional poisons centre in Eastern Africa. The project was initiated at the request of the SAICM Africa Core Group to address the lack of poisons centres in the region, and was funded by the SAICM Quick Start Programme. The project ran from January 2012 to December 2013.

The overall objective of the project was to find a means for improving the provision of poisons centre services in Africa. The countries included in this study were: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Prior to the start of the project, three poisons centres had been identified in the subregion: two in Nairobi, Kenya and one in Harare, Zimbabwe.