Dr Leah Utyasheva
Celebrating women across the globe to prevent deaths from pesticide self-poisoningPromoting human rights and safer communities through pesticide policy and public health
Name
Dr Leah Utyasheva
Job role
Policy Director, Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, University of Edinburgh
Location
Toronto, Canada
Tell us about your role?
Since the inception of CPSP, I have been collaborating with partners in Nepal to collect data from hospitals and toxicology laboratories and communicating findings to regulators and the public. Due to our findings, Nepal’s regulators banned many highly hazardous pesticides that were responsible for poisonings and deaths. Using the experience gained in Nepal, I support the health data collection element of CPSP projects. I also work on the human rights and social justice elements of pesticide management policies and poisoning prevention.
Why is this work important to you?
I am passionate about social justice and equality and, for this reason, I work to promote the human rights-based approach in all CPSP’s projects. I would like to believe that my work may bring better health protection, poisonings and suicide prevention and communities’ empowerment in countries where we work. It is important to me to bring to light the human rights aspects in pesticide policy and legislation, to underline the need for good poisoning surveillance so that regulations reflect the realities in low- and middle-income countries. I have a number of papers on these topics.
This profile has been compiled for International Women’s Day 2026, to celebrate the incredible women worldwide who are helping to prevent deaths from pesticide self-poisoning.