https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czd0qlmjl05o
Below are extracts from a BBC news item and a comment from me.
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I saw a kaleidoscopic light before going blind, says survivor of Laos methanol poisoning...
The group had been staying at a hostel where free whisky and vodka shots were offered to guests. Calum was mixing them with soft drinks...
"We were sitting in the hotel room, my friends and I, and I said to them: 'Why are we sitting in the dark? Someone should turn a light on.'" The lights were already on.
Calum, 23, is now blind and telling his story for the first time. He was one of several victims of a mass methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng last November.
Six people died. Calum knew two of them - Danish girls he had met on a night out...
Methanol is a type of alcohol commonly found in cleaning products, fuel and antifreeze. It is similar to ethanol, which is used for alcoholic drinks, but is more toxic to humans because of the way it is processed by the body.
Alcoholic drinks can become contaminated with methanol if they are manufactured poorly.
It is a known problem with cheap spirits in South East Asia where hundreds of people are poisoned each year, according to the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF)...
If diagnosed within 10-30 hours after consumption, methanol poisoning can be treated successfully with dialysis...
The Foreign Office described methanol poisoning and counterfeit alcohol as a "serious problem in some parts of the world" and said it was working with local authorities and the travel industry to tackle the issue.
"We seek to make clear the risks to British people travelling abroad and we raise awareness through our travel advice and Travel Aware campaign, external."
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COMMENT (NPW): This is one of thousands of examples where people lack basic healthcare information that would have saved their lives and/or saved their sight. 'It is a known problem' says the article, but there is a huge gap beteeen what is known by science from the available evidence (and so often this is clear and unequivocal) and what is known by individuals. Individuals (such as tourists to South East Asia) need basic information to prevent death, blindness and other consequences of methanol poisoning. And health workers need basic information to identify and urgently refer cases of methanol poisoning for lifesaving dialysis within hours of ingestion.
The UK Foreign Office says they are addressing this but they do not even mention methanol poisoning on the Laos health section of their own website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/health
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org