Improving the Health Level of Farmers During the Use of Pesticides: Policy Brief

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of unintentional acute poisoning cases is between 3.5 and 5 million cases worldwide. Among these, 3 million cases were severe, leading to the death of 20000 people per year. In addition, 7.4 million years of life had lost every year due to diseases caused by agricultural toxins (1). Based on the previous evidence, the development of unauthorized supply stores and lack of proper monitoring of the permissible limit of poisons, as well as the sale of poisons without a prescription, the ignorance of farmers, the indiscriminate planting of products not resembling traditional agriculture, can be due to various factors related to the improper and indiscriminate use of pests. Pesticides and agricultural poisons have short- and long-term health effects. Globally, it is recommended that a policy brief be compiled for decision-making cases based on evidence. Therefore, to demonstrate evidence-based policy options, taking into account the existing obstacles and opportunities, it seems necessary to use strategies and intervention plans to reduce the consumption of pesticides while increasing the level of protection of farmers.

Keywords: Farmers, Pesticide, Health literacy, Policy brief