Children are natural explorers and are very likely to experiment. It is not surprising that over 60 percent of cases of accidental poisoniong involve children under five years.

The majority of accidental poisonings involve medicines and drugs that have been left in places that the child can reach.

Children often also try drinking household products such as paraffin and cleaning fluids, especially if these have been poured into bottles or containers that usually contain drinks or food.

Chronic poisoning, such as lead poisoning, may sometimes occur in children living in polluted conditions near industrial or chemical plants.

• Make sure that medicines, drugs, cooking agents and cleaning products are kept out of reach of children, in locked cupboards.
• Use containers with safety screw tops for these products.
• Store them in containers that will not be mistaken for cold drink or sweet bottles.
• Never store food and cleaning products or food and medicines together.
• Adults should avoid taking medication in front of children, as children are great imitators.
• Avoid storing poisonous substances in unlabelled bottles.
• Keep insect and weed killers safely out of the sight and reach of children.

In industrial areas it is important that the environment is monitored to ensure that chemicals do not reach unacceptably high and dangerous levels.

• Find the substance or the container of the substance that you suspect the child has swallowed or touched. Save this to take with you to the clinic or hospital.
• If the child is conscious and there are signs that he or she has swallowed poison, you may try and get the child to vomit.
• If the child has swallowed a detergent or corrosive acid, do not give him or her anything to drink, because the drink might react with the poison and do more damage inside the child.
• If the child has touched a substance that can cause poisoning simply by skin contact, remove clothing that might be affected and wash the skin, hair and nails - first with plain water and then using soap. Finally rinse the skin thoroughly and dry.
• If the child has a poisonous substance in the eye, wash the eye gently with lukewarm water for up to ten minutes.
• Keep the child comfortable and take him or her to the nearest health facility.

• The poison is of the type that would cause burning in the throat and digestive system (for instance, battery acid, cleaning products that contain caustic soda)
• The child has swallowed paraffin because oily droplets may cause problems in the lungs and result in pneumonia

For any poisoning, contact your local clinic for professional help.