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A team of researchers from Sri Lanka and Britain made a major breakthrough in Kaneru-seed poisoning, one of the major causes of deaths throughout the country, by developing a new drug to counter the deadly poison. Eating kaneru seeds to commit suicide is common in Sri Lanka especially among the local village folks. The suicide rate in Sri Lanka is among the highest in the world, second only to Hungary. The drug, is an injection is called the 'KaneruTab' and it is expected to reduce deaths by Kaneru poisoning by around 10% in Sri Lanka. The world-wide interest and recognition of the research work on "Kaneru seed poisoning" have been immense and it has also been published in the prestigious Lancet journal published recently. Even reporting agencies such as Reuters and AFP have hailed the developing of the drug as "welcome news for Oleander poisoned patients in Australia, Germany and the United States". Reports on KaneruTab injections which is field tested to international clinical standards in Sri Lanka have been presented to the Ministry of Health last year. "We are awaiting the health ministry approval to purchase and distribute this drug to the provinces, where Kaneru seed poisoning occurs mostly," the researchers said. The team
of researchers was led by Prof. Rizvi Sheriff, Prof. of Medicine
University of Colombo. Prof. Sheriff has been honured for his achievement
by way of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) Oration, which he had
later delivered in Kandy.
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