The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

More people calling Swiss emergency poisoning number

More and more people are calling the emergency number because of poisoning
More and more people are calling the emergency number because of poisoning Keystone-SDA

More and more people are calling the emergency number owing to poisoning. Advice was most frequently sought on medicines and household products, and most of those affected were children and young people.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

These are the findings of the Tox Info Suisse Foundation’s 2023 annual report.

An average of 113 people per day called the emergency number 145 to seek advice from Tox Info Suisse about poisoning. This was 1.7% more last year than in 2022, the foundation announced on Tuesday.

Tox Info Suisse provided 41,263 consultations in 2023. In 95% of cases, this concerned poisoning in humans, with the remainder involving animals. Some 70% of inquiries came from the general public and 20% from medical professionals, with the remainder coming from other sources.

+ Swiss mushroom pickers face shortage of poison antidote

Most of the poisonings occurred in the home environment through medication, stimulants, drugs and alcohol. According to Tox Info Suisse, there were seven deaths last year, all among adults.

In Switzerland the emergency number for poisoning is 145. Specially trained physicians will give advice 24/7 in cases of poisoning with, for example, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, other drugs, poisonous plants, mushrooms or venomous animals.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

30-year-old charged with drone flight at Women's European Championships

More

Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025

This content was published on A man flew a drone around the venue on Wednesday evening during the first match of the Women's EURO 2025 in St. Gallen. The 30-year-old violated the absolute ban on flying during match days. He was reported to the police.

Read more: Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025
257 Swiss companies are members of the SBTi

More

More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative

This content was published on A total of 257 companies from Switzerland have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, they are committing to CO2 reduction targets that are compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Read more: More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative
Chaka Khan 'and friends': an evening that would have pleased Quincy Jones

More

Montreux Jazz Festival honours Quincy Jones

This content was published on American artist Chaka Khan ‘and friends’ opened the 59th Montreux Jazz Festival on Friday. For over three hours, their show, dedicated to their friend and mentor Quincy Jones, thrilled the audience,

Read more: Montreux Jazz Festival honours Quincy Jones

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR