Illinois must continue to make poison prevention, treatment and education a priority, Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) said today.

Harmon, a longtime champion of the Illinois Poison Center, last week voted for Senate Bill 2059, which would appropriate $2 million for the center. The legislation also would appropriate money for other important public health programs, including AIDS/HIV services, breast and cervical cancer screenings, prostate cancer research, local health protection grants and more.

The poison center is among the 10 percent of state programs and services that are not receiving state funding during the budget stalemate; the other 90 percent of state operations are running on autopilot largely because of court orders, consent decrees and continuing appropriations.

“The Illinois Poison Center helps tens of thousands of residents and health care professionals every year. It is a vital component of the state’s public health network,” Harmon said. “Withholding state funding from it means lives potentially will be put in jeopardy as the state’s budget stalemate drags on.”

The Illinois Poison Center saves the state of Illinois an estimated $60 million in reduced health care and lost productivity costs by helping people to resolve 90 percent of poison cases in their own homes. The center handles more than 80,000 calls every year on its helpline. Of the calls it handled last year, nearly half involved children 5 and younger.

“The return on Illinois’ life-saving investment in a poison center is confirmed over and over again, yet state funding for the center continues to be held up by politics,” Harmon said.

This is not the first time support for the poison center has been uncertain. In 2014, Harmon worked to craft a plan that assured stable funding for the center through at least 2018 in the face of declining state contributions. However, during the current historic budget stalemate, which is about to enter its 10th month, the center has received no state support whatsoever.

March is Poison Prevention Month, and this is National Poison Prevention Week.

The Illinois Poison Center is the oldest and one of the largest poison centers in the United States. It monitors and helps people with such poisons as drugs and medications, vitamins, plants, chemicals, household and automotive products, insect and animal bites and stings, lead, carbon monoxide and more.

According to the Illinois Poison Center, more Illinoisans are hospitalized for poisoning than for injuries from firearms and vehicle crashes combined.

The poison center’s hotline is 800-222-1222.