Guidelines for establishing a poison centre

This update of the Guidelines for poison control, entitled Guidelines for establishing a poison centre, reflects the development of the role of poison centres in public health and the sound management of chemicals, described in section 1, and the opportunities provided by new technology. Assessments carried out under the IHR show continuing gaps in capacity for managing chemicals (2). In particular, many countries still lack access to poison centre services (3). There is therefore demand for updated guidance.