In 2019, 63,000 people died in the North due to snake bites.

 

More than 63,000 deaths occurred in 2019 due to snake bites

A recent study led by a team of scientists from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, reported that more than 63,000 people died from snake bites in 2019, largely due to the lack of adequate antidote in rural areas. was Most of these deaths occurred in India (51,000), with only two deaths recorded in Australia. These findings suggest that the World Health Organization's target of halving snakebite deaths by 2030 will not be met.

"Interventions to ensure rapid antivenom delivery must be combined with prevention strategies such as increased education and rural health systems," said study lead author Richard Franklin, professor of public health at James Cook University. strengthening,"

"Ensuring access to timely antivenom in rural areas of the world will save thousands of lives, and greater investment in designing and scaling up these interventions should be prioritized to reduce snakebite envenoming and neglect." WHO targets for tropical diseases to be met."

By collecting autopsy and vital record data from the Global Burden of Disease datasets, the scientists modeled the proportion of snake deaths by location, age, sex, and year. The analysis revealed that the majority of snakebite deaths occur in South Asia, particularly in countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In India, snake deaths are estimated at a staggering four per 100,000 people – significantly higher than the global average of 0.8. The sub-Saharan Africa region ranks second, with Nigeria having the highest number of deaths (1,460).

According to Professor Franklin, the chance of death from a venomous snake bite increases significantly if antivenom is not administered within six hours of the bite. "However, in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, many people seek out traditional healers or go to clinics with insufficient training in snakebite treatment, or antivenom for life-saving treatment. There is a shortage," he explained. "Those who arrive at the hospital often have inadequate access to dialysis, ventilators and blood transfusions, which are necessary to manage the complications of poisoning."

Unfortunately, researchers predict that the number of snakebite deaths will increase to 68,000 by 2050, largely due to population growth. "We predict that mortality will continue to decline, but not enough to meet WHO targets. Targeting interventions, improving burden estimates and better data collection to monitor progress is a priority. should be given,” the scientists concluded.