At 1.2 million India has highest number of snakebites in the world

What is the News?

According to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), India has seen an estimated 1.2 million (12 lakh) snakebite deaths from 2000 to 2019, an average of 58,000 per year.

About Snakebite Deaths:

• The snakebite envenoming (poisoning from snake bites) was classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a high-priority neglected tropical disease. 
• About 5.4 million (54 lakh) snake bites occur globally each year, resulting in 1.8 to 2.7 million cases of envenoming.
• Most of these occur in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Asia, up to 2 million people are envenomed by snakes each year.

Snakebite Cases in India:

• India has the highest number of snakebite cases and accounts for nearly 50% of the global snakebite deaths. 
• Farmers, labourers, hunters, shepherds, snake rescuers, tribal and migrant populations, and those with limited access to education and healthcare are high-risk groups for snakebites.

Initiatives against Snakebite deaths:

• WHO’s Roadmap for snakebite envenoming(SE): WHO launched its roadmap with an aim to halve death and disability from snakebite by 2030.
• Moreover, ICMR has also started community awareness and health system capacity building from the year 2013. They are continuing their work through a national study funded by the National Task Force on snakebite, ICMR.