Hyderabad : A growing but largely invisible public-health crisis — acute pesticide poisoning — took centre stage at a landmark Round Table in Hyderabad on Saturday, bringing together medical professionals, farmers, researchers, and civil-society organisations on a common platform. The Round Table on Pesticide Poisoning of Medical Doctors and Farmers concluded with a shared resolve to build a sustained partnership between healthcare systems and farming communities, aimed at reducing pesticide-related deaths and promoting safer, sustainable agricultural practices.
A key highlight of the event was the release of a national report titled “Acute Unintentional Pesticide Poisoning in India”, published by Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific in collaboration with Pesticide Action Network India. The report was formally released by senior medical professionals Dr. Praveen Kumar Saxena, Dr. C. Sai Ram, Dr. Donthi Narasimha Reddy, and A. D. Dileep Kumar of PAN India, reaffirming a collective commitment to evidence-based advocacy and policy reform.
Drawing on field surveys and clinical data, the report documents the alarming scale of acute unintentional pesticide poisoning across India, with rural and agrarian communities bearing a disproportionate burden. It warns that India accounts for a significant share of global pesticide-poisoning cases and deaths — yet the crisis remains grossly underreported and poorly documented. Thousands of cases have been officially recorded in states such as Maharashtra and Telangana, the report notes, while many more go unreported due to weak surveillance systems.
The Round Table was jointly organised by Pesticide Action Network India, Universal Health Organisation, Maharashtra Association of Pesticide Poisoned Persons, and the Indian Medical Association (AMS HQS). By bringing together doctors who treat pesticide poisoning and farmers who experience it firsthand, the conference created a rare space for dialogue across professional and social boundaries. Prominent doctors participating included Dr. Praveen Kumar Saxena, oncologist Dr. C. Sai Ram, Dr. Vivek Chander, and Dr. Sree Sudha Chepyala. Farmer leaders and community representatives included Anvesh Reddy Sunketa, Pasya Padma, Aribandi Prasada Rao, Dhanya from the Centre for Prevention of Suicides by Pesticides (CPSP), and Ayyengari Surender Reddy.
One of the most serious concerns highlighted during the discussions was the failure of health and regulatory systems to identify the specific pesticide involved in poisoning cases. Hospitals often record cases simply as “poisoning,” without naming the chemical agent, leading to delayed or inappropriate treatment and avoidable deaths. Where identification is available, highly hazardous organophosphate pesticides emerge as the leading cause, the report notes. Medical professionals at the Round Table pointed out that the absence of chemical identification also undermines national data collection, policy responses, and regulatory accountability.
The workshop identified critical gaps in pesticide regulation, medical preparedness, and national surveillance mechanisms. Despite existing legal provisions, India lacks a functional, transparent national system to monitor pesticide poisoning cases.
Among the key recommendations were banning highly hazardous pesticides, strengthening medical response systems at rural and district hospitals, mandatory, transparent reporting of pesticide-poisoning cases with chemical identification, promoting non-chemical, agroecological farming practices and farmer empowerment through awareness of the health impacts of chemical pesticides.
Speakers warned that without decisive reforms, pesticide poisoning will continue to claim lives silently, at enormous human and social cost. The organisers have made the report and supporting field studies publicly available to raise awareness and push for policy action.
Acute Unintentional Pesticide Poisoning in India:
https://tinyurl.com/yuv2kvc8
Field Survey: Pesticide Use and Impacts in Yavatmal, India:
https://tinyurl.com/mrx8xty9
Readers can contact to Dr. Donthi Narasimha Reddy – 90102-05742, Dr. Praveen Kumar Saxena – 98490-17813 and A. D. Dileep Kumar – 81370-06352.
