Even though snakebites are raising public health concerns, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has declared cases and deaths due to snakebites as a “notifiable disease” in India.
Even though snakebites are raising public health concerns, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has declared cases and deaths due to snakebites as a “notifiable disease” in India.
According to data from the Ministry, around 50,000 deaths occur in India due to approximately 3 to 4 million snake bites annually. This accounts for half of all snakebite deaths in the world. However, cases are largely underreported. “Snakebites are a public health problem and, in certain cases, cause mortality, morbidity and disability. Farmers, tribal people, etc. are at higher risk,” Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said in a letter addressed to Health Secretaries of all states and Union Territories (UTs). “You are requested to submit cases of snake bites and the deaths are a ‘notifiable disease’ under the relevant provisions of the State Public Health Act or other applicable legislation.” The letter urged all government health centers and private (including medical colleges) to “make it mandatory to report all suspected and probable cases of snake bites and deaths in the attached format,” the letter reads. The common krait, Indian cobra, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper are responsible for about 90 percent of snakebites in the country. While multivalent anti-snake venom (ASV), with antibodies against these four, is effective in 80 percent of cases, the lack of trained human resources and health facilities to treat snakebite patients remains. being a cause for concern. Other important obstacles are the lack of data on incidence, morbidity, mortality, socioeconomic burden, treatment patterns, etc. In March, the MoFHW launched the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming (NAPSE) to address the problem of snakebite. related deaths by 2030,” Srivastava said. The plan includes defined strategic components, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in the management, control and prevention of snakebite. A key objective of NAPSE is to boost surveillance of snakebite cases and deaths in the country. Srivastava called for the development of a “robust surveillance system to accurately track snakebite incidents and deaths.” This will provide valuable data to inform and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. It will also help stakeholders understand “the exact burden, high-risk areas and factors responsible for deaths of snakebite victims”, which in return would result in better clinical management of victims, he said. Srivastava–IANSrvt/
Source-IANS
