Has GPP looked into the expected value of advocating for banning lethal pesticides? They are responsible for about 400,000 deaths a year, mostly from impulsive suicides that wouldn’t have occurred had the poison not been available. A global ban on lethal pesticides (there are countless non-lethal pesticides to use, so it won’t affect agricultural production) could spare most of those deaths.
If $100 million was spent on advocacy and lobbying resulting in a global ban 10 years earlier than it otherwise would have occurred, assuming 300,000 lives/year saved, the cost per life saved would be a scant $33. Plus, toxic pesticides are bad for the environment and the health of workers exposed to it (proper protective equipment is rarely used in developing nations), and there are millions of acute pesticide poisonings a year that are not fatal but use up lots of ICU beds. Seems like a high priority cause that NGO’s should be engaged in.
Has GPP looked into the expected value of advocating for banning lethal pesticides? They are responsible for about 400,000 deaths a year, mostly from impulsive suicides that wouldn’t have occurred had the poison not been available. A global ban on lethal pesticides (there are countless non-lethal pesticides to use, so it won’t affect agricultural production) could spare most of those deaths.
If $100 million was spent on advocacy and lobbying resulting in a global ban 10 years earlier than it otherwise would have occurred, assuming 300,000 lives/year saved, the cost per life saved would be a scant $33. Plus, toxic pesticides are bad for the environment and the health of workers exposed to it (proper protective equipment is rarely used in developing nations), and there are millions of acute pesticide poisonings a year that are not fatal but use up lots of ICU beds. Seems like a high priority cause that NGO’s should be engaged in.
Have you raised this with Open Phil?
Was going to as soon as I get some questions of mine answered by academics… or give up trying!