Swiss government seeks to compel industry to fund poison advice service

The Swiss government wants chemical and pharmaceutical companies to help fund Tox Info Suisse, the national poison information service, through changes to federal law, SRF reports. It says the industries have not agreed to provide substantial, lasting support voluntarily.

The government plans to amend the Chemicals Act and the Therapeutic Products Act to require the companies to contribute. It estimates about 5,800 firms would be affected. Chemical manufacturers would pay an average of about 240 Swiss francs a year, while holders of marketing authorisations for medicines would pay about 5,300 francs.

The government says the products of the companies required to contribute account for more than 70 percent of poisoning cases. It also said discussions between the Federal Department of Home Affairs and industry representatives showed that voluntary funding would not be sufficient.

Tox Info Suisse handled 44,736 consultations in 2025. Around 40 percent concerned children of preschool age, nearly always following accidents. Another 6 percent involved teenagers, with intentional poisoning the main concern. The service’s emergency number, 145, received an average of 123 calls a day earlier this year. Call volumes have risen by 2 to 4 percent annually in recent years, reaching 4.6 percent growth last year.

The service was founded about 60 years ago and was funded by private sponsors, hospital contracts, donations and public contributions. The government says many private sponsors have since withdrawn. In the 2025 winter session, parliament approved the funding needed to keep the national poison hotline operating, but the government opposed the increase at the time.