Aftab Ahmad, Intsar Ahmad Chattha, Asif Raheem, Aneela Yasmeen.
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of pesticides handlers in Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;5(2):17-20.

Background: Pesticides and insecticides are very toxic by design and they are used world over to protect the crops from insects. Although, they are good for better crops production but they have serious effects on environment and human health. Exposure to pesticides and insecticides is one of the most important occupational health risks in developing countries, like Pakistan. Methods: A survey was designed to know the awareness level about insecticides and pesticides toxicity and spray procedure in Punjab, Pakistan. Results: Majority of respondents was from village, in the age group of 25-34, with spray experience of 0-5 years and did not have any formal education. Mostly learned about spray procedure themselves or from family and friends and none of them had training from government institutes. Most of the respondents did not use any protection equipment's and also had different health problems during spray process. They also reported deaths due to acute poisoning of spray personals. Conclusion: The results clearly indicate that there is great need to aware people about toxicity of pesticides and insecticides as well as educate them about personal, family and environmental protection. Government and non government organizations as well as print and electronic media can play an important role in this regards. There is need of urgent steps to stop acute and chronic poisoning of poor pesticide handlers and make this profession safer. Keywords: Pesticide, spray, farmers, health problems, Pakistan. (Pak J Public Health 2015;5(2):9-12 )

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com