India tops global list in snakebite deaths with 58,000 fatalities annually: Report
New Delhi: India records the highest number of snakebite deaths in the world, with an estimated 58,000 fatalities each year, according to a new global report. The staggering toll is attributed to a combination of high snake population density, vast rural populations, and widespread dependence on traditional healers.
The report, titled “Time to Bite Back: Catalyzing a Global Response to Snakebite Envenoming”, was released at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva by the Global Snakebite Taskforce. The study, as cited by The New Indian Express on Thursday, paints a grim picture of the situation in India, where snakebites disproportionately affect poor and indigenous communities with limited access to timely and quality healthcare.
The report calls attention to the “devastating and preventable human toll of snakebite envenoming” and highlights key systemic issues: delays in seeking medical care due to reliance on traditional medicine, lack of quality control among some domestic antivenom producers, and high out-of-pocket costs in informal healthcare settings.
Although India has implemented a National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming, significant gaps remain, the report stated.
It urges stronger efforts toward meeting the World Health Organisation’s target of halving global deaths and disabilities from snakebite envenoming by 2030.
Dr Yogesh Jain, a public health physician and one of the authors of the report, emphasised the inadequacies of the Indian healthcare system in managing snakebite emergencies. “The healthcare system is simply not equipped to respond. Doctors often lack the training, tools, and confidence to treat cases effectively. Poverty compounds the problem. When care isn’t free or accessible, people turn to faith healers or other ineffective options,” TNIE quoted him as saying.
Dr Jain, who heads the community health initiative Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Chhattisgarh, also raised concerns about the limited efficacy of available treatments. He noted that even when patients do reach a clinic, the polyvalent antivenom available only covers a handful of the 35 venomous species and is effective in about 80 percent of cases.
In a move to improve surveillance and intervention, India last year classified snakebite as a notifiable disease. The country, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s snakebite deaths, has long been regarded as the global epicenter of the crisis.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
