The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced
the publication of new guidelines for the production, regulation and control of snake antivenoms and a website with details on the appropriate antivenoms.
The details include where the venomous snakes are located, their description, which antivenoms are appropriate and where they can be
obtained.
A statement issued by WHO and made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said "with snake bites killing at least 100,000 people a year and countries facing shortage of appropriate antivenoms, access to and information about available antivenoms is increasingly important".
WHO Assistant Director-General Carissa Etienne, in the statement, said many countries had no access to the antivenoms they needed. Others use antivenoms that had never been tested against their target snake venoms. "So often when people get bitten, they cannot get the treatment they need. These new tools would help bring that to an end".
It said an estimated five million people were bitten each year resulting in up to 2.5 million envenoming, at least 100,000 deaths and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities each year.
Bites by venomous snakes can cause paralysis that may prevent breathing, bleeding disorders that can lead to fatal haemorrhage,
irreversible kidney failure and severe tissue damage that can cause permanent disability and may result in limb amputation.
"Victims are mostly women, children and farmers living in poor rural communities, where health systems are not well equipped and medical
resources are sparse," it added.
It said a combination of factors had led to the present situation including poor data on the number and type of snake bites, difficulty in
estimating the needs and defined markets combined with deficient distribution policies, which contributed to manufacturers stopping production or increasing prices of antivenoms.
"Poor regulation and marketing of inappropriate antivenoms has led to a loss of confidence in available antivenoms by clinicians, public health officials and patients," the statement added.
It said effective and safe antivenoms required international collaboration, and that the WHO had urged regulators, producers,
researchers, clinicians, national and regional health authorities, international and community organisations to work together to improve the
availability of epidemiological data on snake bites, the regulatory control of antivenoms and their distribution policies.