The Belgian Centre for Poisons has released a report showing a 10% increase in calls coming from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 2016.

Two years after the signing of the cooperation agreement between the Luxembourg government and the Belgian Centre for Poisons, the centre presented the Luxembourg Ministry of Health with the second report on its activities. It shows that the total number of calls from Luxembourg has increased by 10% compared to 2015, from 382 calls to 421 in 2016.

Since June 2015, all inhabitants of the Grand Duchy have access to the Belgian Centre for Poisons 24 hours a day via the free telephone number 8002 5500 set up by the Ministry of Health concerning their questions on dangerous products with which they or their family members have come into contact. Before this agreement, only Luxembourg doctors and pharmacists could apply to the centre.

Of the 421 calls received in 2016, 390 were requests for emergency information following contact with a product (so-called "conventional calls"). The remaining 31 appeals involve miscellaneous applications, such as additional information about a drug.

Of the 390 classical calls, 235 were from the public and 143 from health professionals (115 doctors, 14 nurses, 9 pharmacists and 5 veterinarians). The majority were hospital practitioners: 103 calls come from a hospital. Moreover, ten calls concerned domestic animals, seven dogs and three cats.

Drugs and household products were the main causes of calls to the Poison Control Centre. The categories of drugs most often involved in therapeutic errors were fever and pain medications. In this category, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol were mainly concerned. Drugs in the respiratory system, mainly cough suppressants, were the second most common cause of antibiotics.

The vast majority of calls followed an accident and more than one accident in ten is a therapeutic error, such as overdoses or product errors.

As for the location of poisoning, most were domestic accidents, with 90.7% having taken place in the house and garden.

Finally, in 2016, the Poisons Centre website (www.centreantipoisons.be) received 2,314 visitors from the Grand Duchy.