Snakebites continue to be a huge problem in India causing nearly 60,000 deaths annually. With this in mind, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is working on an action plan to prevent deaths from snakebites.

The National Action Plan for Snakebite Venom (NAPSE) was discussed at a meeting called by the NCDC which was attended by officials from various ministries, central zoo authorities, Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR), WHO-India, Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) as well as vaccine manufacturers.

"To prevent the deaths due to snakebite, a national consultation on developing on National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of snakebite Envenoming India was held under the chairmanship of DGHS," wrote the NCDC, reported Mint.

Snake bites in India

India is home to over 300 species of snakes. While a vast majority of them are non-venomous, over 40 out of 300 are only mildly venomous, and 60 are venomous species of snakes in the country. However, 90 percent of all snakebites in India are caused by the ‘Big Four’ incredibly venomous snakes -- Russell's viper, the Common krait, the Indian cobra, and the Indian saw-scaled viper – according to the WHO.

Also Read: IMD says deficient rainfall recorded across India in February

Apart from these four, there are plenty of other snakes in the country like the King Cobra and the Malabar Pit Viper that causes deaths. Despite this, India produces only one type of anti-venom – polyvalent antivenom or ASV – to deal with all snakebites.

The mortality rate of snakebites is made worse by the fact that a large portion of snakebites and envenomations occur in rural regions where patients often choose alternative treatments, which lead to death and disabilities. With snakebites not being a notified disease, any and all mortality data comes through public hospitals.

The only representative data on the caseload of snakebites in India is the Registrar General of India - 1 Million Death study and another study on mortality in Bihar. Even within this limited data, the number of envenomations highlights that snakebites remain the most neglected tropical disease in India.

According to data from the ICMR, there are over an estimated million snakebites in India, with 200,000 people being significantly disabled as a result of snakebites. India alone counts for more than half of all snakebite deaths in the world.

What can be done?

The best way to prevent snake bites is to improve education in population groups living in high-risk areas, reduce over-encroachment of natural snake habitats, along with improving and increasing anti-venom production in the country. An effective intervention will require all of the above methods to be used in conjunction to prevent snakebites in the first place but also save more lives in the case of envenomations.

Also Read: Explained: 50 lakh people in India, Pakistan at risk of flooding from glacial lakes due to climate crisis