Save Lives of Snakebite Victims in Rural India

Nationwide Snakebite Awareness Workshops were launched to mobilize its network in the field with the purpose of spreading awareness about snake identification, snakebite first aid, snakebite prevention, within at-risk communities in rural India. through this volunteer-driven initiative, volunteers across the country came forward to conduct awareness workshops in their respective regions. In order to reach more people, the outreach materials were translated into several regional languages. And also as part of the initiative Anti Snake Venom or ASV bank was also maintained. ASV Bank is not a stockpile of ASV, whereas it is a fund that ensures a quick and immediate supply of ASV to thorough vetted rural medical facilities that have a proven track record for successfully managing snakebite cases. 

During the last year, amid the Covid Pandemic, about 102 workshops were conducted in the 5 India States of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. An in that largest workshop was conducted in Maharashtra where the focus was reaching out to school children who are most at risk for snakebite as they tend to walk around barefoot both indoors and outdoors. The fact that the general population was taking cognizance of the importance of snakes and snakebite-related awareness was made evident by the active participation of the local community and local authorities in conducting these sessions. The awareness workshops were timed to coincide with popular festivals like Nag Panchami and Ganesh Chaturthi where maximum outreach could be achieved and the message of awareness and conservation would be retained in community memory for a longer period of time. When we consider the school level, workshops coincided with Teachers' Training sessions and Wildlife Week Celebrations and were attended by school students, teachers, non-teaching staff, and in some cases Forest Department Officials, and Women's from local Self-help Groups (SHGs'). 

A total of 8279 individuals were directly impacted by these workshops and in that 73 workshops were focused exclusively on school students. In order to maintain the project impact and sustainability, the school awareness workshops will be made a regular annual feature. 19 workshops were conducted for 1988 individuals from local gram panchayats and village elder groups, tribal women, and different government staff. Special workshops were conducted for farmers to inform them to snake behavior in open fields and precautions to avoid snakebite.

Along with workshops, ASV’s were also delivered to Anjali Health Centre (AHC), a small facility located in rural Pithora in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. There have been 79 cases of snakebite related during the previous year and those were treated at AHC, with an administration of 38 vials of ASV. Snakebites that were inflicted by venomous snakes were treated with ASV and the remaining cases were discharged after receiving standard wound care, anti-tetanus shot, and prophylactic antibiotic cover. Data shows that the peak cases reported during the months of June, July and August coincided with the monsoon. 

Over the years, the total number of snakebite cases (both venomous and non-venomous) coming to the facility has reduced considerably, but there is still a fair number of non-venomous snakebite cases being brought in for the treatment. And in that offending snakes were killed and that shows that a significant number of snakes are still being killed. From an ecological perspective, snakes are very much important for the balance of the food web. 

Our efforts to achieve the goal will continue. For nature and for the ecosystem.