GENEVA: With millions of people being bitten by snakes each year and countries facing a shortage of appropriate antivenoms, access to and information about available antivenoms is increasingly important, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the UN agency said an estimated 5 million people are bitten each year, resulting in up to 2.5 million envenomings, at least 100,000 deaths and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities, reports China's Xinhua news agency.
Victims are mostly women, children and farmers living in poor rural communities, where health systems were not well equipped and medical resources were sparse, WHO said.
It added that most countries face a critical global shortage of appropriate, safe and effective snake antivenoms due to a combination of factors, which included poor data on the number and type of snake bites, difficulty to estimate the needs and define markets, deficient distribution policies and poor regulation.
"Many countries have no access to the antivenoms they need. Others use antivenoms that have never been tested against their target snake venoms. So often when people get bitten, they can't get the treatment they need," said WHO assistant Director-General Carissa Etienne.
According to the WHO, effective and safe antivenoms requires international collaboration.
It urged regulators, producers, researchers, clinicians, national and regional health authorities, international organizations and community organizations to work together to improve the availability of reliable epidemiological data on snake bites, the regulatory control of antivenoms and their distribution policies.
The agency also published some new guidelines providing details for the production, regulation and control of snake antivenoms.
It also launched an online database giving a list of venomous snake species for which the availability of appropriate antivenoms should be prioritised. - BERNAMA
