Ludhiana: Aluminium phosphide is the most common type of poison which is consumed by those who commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide in Punjab. It is available in abundance in Punjab as it is used in preserving wheat grain in the storage bins in the homes. Other poisonous substances consumed by the people to end their lives are DDT, phenyl, mosquito repellent and CoSo4.
The trauma centre of the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, received as many 105 patients who had allegedly consumed some sort of poison from April to July this year. Out of these, 63 were male and 42 female. About 32 per cent of the patients had consumed celphos.
The average age of the patients varied from 13 years to 60 years among the males and from 11 years to 60 years among female category. The main cause of consuming poisonous substance are the family tension and poverty.
Dr T.M. Jaison, acting Director of the CMC, feels that the government should ban the sale of aluminium phosphide as it is available in almost all the households in Punjab in general and rural areas in particular.
According to Dr Jasbir Dhanoa, Head of the Department of Medicine, CMCH, aluminium phosphide is available in three-gram tablets and 1/6th of the tablet is sufficient to kill a person. She opined that the government should reduce the strength of the tablet. Moreover, if the tablet is consumed after opening the lid of tablet box, the patient can survive.
Similarly, the number of burn cases coming to the hospital is increasing. The trauma centre of the CMCH received 81 patients with burn injuries from April to July this year. Out of these 38 were male and 33 female patients. The burn injuries varied from 100 per cent to 1 per cent. The number of road accident cases coming to the centre of the hospital has also been increasing.
On an average, the centre is receiving 150 to 200 cases every month. These cases pertain not only to Ludhiana city or Punjab, but cases from states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Haryana are also received.
