Phillips remains undaunted. In addition to his political lobbying, he is working with other researchers to fill in the gaps in the still-sketchy data. Until then, he’s covering all the bases: working for increased public education and better monitoring for at-risk people, such as newly married young women and elderly people who live alone.

Then there are the pesticides. He is investigating the effectiveness of manufacturers adding emetics, so a person who drinks it automatically vomits it back up. (There is concern that this could cause aspiration, which could hasten the absorption of the poison.)Failing that, he is urging the government to license pesticide use and make poisons controlled substances that must be kept under lock and key. He acknowledges that the farmers need pesticides but suggests they could use less potent chemicals. He’d like to see an all-out ban on the most toxic chemicals, both within and outside the country. (China is a major manufacturer, as well as user, of pesticides.) Phillips even suggests that if Western countries would stop importing pesticide-treated produce from China, Chinese farmers would be forced to give up their use.

Phillips is kept busy working long days and most weekends. His wife, an American-born psychiatric nurse, works with him at the centre. While it never seems to be enough, there is plenty to do. Two nurses in starched white caps are waiting anxiously in the hallway when Phillips leads me to his office for our meeting. A man is standing on a bridge somewhere in Beijing, threatening to jump. His family is on the phone, begging Dr. Phillips to talk him down. He excuses himself, and an assistant brings me coffee as I settle on a bench in the hallway to wait.