Global accolade for poison info centre at RG Kar Hosp

kolkata: The Poison Information Centre at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has been included in the Global Health Observatory under the Directory of World Poison Centres, a unit of World Health Organisation (WHO).

The RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is the first institution in eastern India to get this accolade.

The new recognition will not only open a new avenue in the field of research on poison but will also reduce the mortality rate caused due to various poisons. The Poison Information Centre in RG Kar has been sharing various poison-related data with the WHO for quite some time. Now, RG Kar Medical College will have access to the poison-related data from across the globe through the Global Health Observatory.

Dr Somnath Das, head of the department of Forensic Medicine at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, who has been instrumental in upgrading the poison centre, said: "The new recognition will help to strengthen our research works. The main purpose is to reduce the mortality caused by snake or any other insect bites. We are also preparing various antidotes for poison. Now, we will also have access to data from across the globe which will further strengthen our research."