Politics More and more people are calling the emergency number because of poisoning

More and more people are calling the emergency number because of poisoning. Advice was most frequently sought on medicines and household products, and most of those affected were children and young people. This is according to the 2023 annual report of the Tox Info Suisse foundation.

An average of 113 people per day called the emergency number 145 to seek advice from Tox Info Suisse about poisoning. This was 1.7% more last year than in 2022, as the foundation announced on Tuesday.

Tox Info Suisse provided 41,263 consultations in 2023. In 95 percent of cases, this concerned poisoning in humans, with the remainder involving animals. Seventy percent of inquiries came from the general public and 20 percent from medical professionals, with the remainder coming from other sources.

Most of the poisonings occurred in the home environment, through medication, stimulants, drugs and alcohol. According to Tox Info Suisse, there were seven deaths last year, all among adults.