Inaugural Lecture: Preventing Deaths from Self-Poisoning in Sri Lanka and the UK

Self-poisoning is responsible for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths worldwide each year. Working in Sri Lanka, Professor Eddleston has spent the last 20 years finding ways to prevent these deaths, by improving medical treatment with clinical trials, performing community-based public health trials to reduce access to pesticides, and reporting the effect of pesticide regulation on suicide incidence.

At the same time, working in Edinburgh, Professor Eddleston has set up a national facility for large animal translational research in which he has tested novel antidotes for poisoning by the medicine colchicine, the chemical weapon cyanide, common highly toxic organophosphorus pesticides, and most recently alcohol.

The work has resulted in thousands of fewer deaths in Sri Lanka and the potential for newer antidotes for poisoning for NHS hospitals.