Poisoned qat claims many lives [Archives:2002/17/Local News]

Poisoning cases resulted from chewing qat have alarmingly increased within the last couple of months, Yemen medical sources said. The total poisoning cases reported from last March till mid-April this year totaled 123 cases in few hospitals in the capital. The same source said that roughly 30 cases, including important personalities have died and some other are still in bad condition.
A source at the Thawra Hospital, on the other hand, denied the news reports, adding that there are no new cases arriving at the hospital. These reports came after the conclusion of the activities of the national conference on qat recently held in Sanaa.
President Saleh addressed a letter to the conference in which he held the relevant authorities responsible for the entry of pesticides to Yemen.
The Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) advised Yemen, in a recent study, to import qat from Ethiopia with the view of reducing the locally produced qat prices and encouraging the cultivation of other beneficial agricultural products.
The study jointly conducted by the FAO and the government, said that, importing qat from Ethiopia will have many positive impacts for its low price as well as saving water resources.

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