A season-long assessment of acute pesticide poisoning among farmers was conducted in three villages in India. Fifty female cotton growers reported the adverse effects experienced after exposures to pesticides by themselves and by their male relatives (n=47). The study documented the serious consequences of pesticide use for the health of farmers, particularly women field helpers. Typically female tasks such as mixing concentrated chemicals and refilling spraying tanks were as hazardous as direct pesticide application. Of 323 reported events, 83.6% were associated with signs and symptoms of mild to severe poisoning, and 10% of the pesticide application sessions were associated with three or more neurotoxic/systemic signs and symptoms typical of poisoning by organophosphates, which were used in 47% of the applications. Although in 6% of the spray sessions the workers' neurotoxic effects were extremely serious, none sought medical care. Low-income marginal farmers were more often subjected to severe poisoning than were landlords.

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This pilot program was designed to: 1) determine whether farmers could use a simple self-reporting system to estimate the incidence of occupationally related, self-limited pesticide poisonings; 2) describe the frequencies and types of pesticide products used in spraying operations; and 3) assess whether self-reporting and feedback would influence spraying behaviors. For 12 months, 50 farmers in northern Vietnam recorded after every spraying session any adverse health effect and the pesticide used. Data were also gathered from 50 controls. Of the 1,798 recorded spray operations, 8% were asymptomatic, 61% associated with vague ill-defined effects, and 31% accompanied by a least one clear or symptom of poisoning. After six months, the self-reporting farmers' spraying frequency and use of highly hazardous products (Ia/Ib) had declined more significantly than in the controls, as had their moderate adverse health effects. This low-cost surveillance method influenced the behaviors of farmers given access to IPM farmer field schools. The study also demonstrated the value of farmers as informants.

Psychiatric morbidity rates for adults in Northern Ireland are comparable to other parts of the United Kingdom and we propose that individuals in Northern Ireland use a range of coping strategies to moderate the impact of the conflict in everyday life. These include habituation to the violence, denial and social cohesion, evidenced in the tightly knit Unionist and Nationalist communities. Particular concern was noted over GHQ-12 scores for Wales and while social and economic factors are acknowledged in our commentary, we conclude that further research appears to be crucial in understanding and preventing poorer rates of mental health in this region.

Background: Quality of life assessments provide a measure of client-assessed wellbeing and help clinicians recognize issues of importance to clients. Comparing quality of life in individuals with a mental illness and individuals without mental illness would allow us to profile and understand the needs of individuals with mental illness understand the impact of stigma and narrow the treatment gap. Aims: To compare quality of life in individuals with severe mental illness against a sample of the general population and to investigate the role of self-esteem, self-efficacy and social functioning. Method: The World Health Organization Quality of Life measure (WHOQOL-100) along with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) and the Generalized Self Efficacy Scale (GSES) were administered to 104 individuals, 52 of whom were mental health service users with the remaining 52 participants sampled from the general population. Results: Significant differences were found between clinical and non-clinical groups in four domains of the WHOQOL-100 and in a majority of the facets within domains. Two domains, Level of Independence and Social Relationships, were important differentiating aspects of QoL between the clinical and non-clinical sample as the highest significant differences were recorded there (t ¼ 12.150, p 5 0.001 and t ¼ 7.252, p 5 0.001 respectively). Lower self-esteem and self-efficacy scores were recorded for the clinical sample compared to the non-clinical sample. Conclusions: The negative repercussions of mental illness encompassed almost all aspects of QoL that individuals had ascertained to be important for satisfaction and wellbeing in everyday life. Findings also indicated that individuals with mental illness have similar needs to a ''normal'' population in terms of social support and social networks and that inter-personal issues were probably more pervasive than intra-psychic events with regard to QoL. We conclude that the concept of QoL offers clinicians an increased awareness and greater concern for life issues for people who are mentally ill, helping us to develop collaborative relationships and provide effective interventions for individuals with mental illness. Declaration of interest: None.