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The Regional Workshop on Management of Snakebites was held
in Yangon, Myanmar from 30 November to 2
December 2009.
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Dr Leonard
Ortega, Acting WHO Representative to Myanmar reading out the message
of the Regional Director at the opening of Regional Workshop on Management
of Snake-bite.
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The Opening ceremony of the Workshop was conducted at Ball
Room 1 of Traders Hotel at 0900 hours on 30 November 2009. On behalf of the
Ministry of Health, the Inaugural speech was delivered by Dr Khin Pyone Kyi, Director General, Department of Medical
Research (Lower Myanmar), which was followed by reading out the message of Dr
Samlee Plianbangchang,
Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, by Dr Leonard Ortega, Ag WHO
Representative to Myanmar.
The Workshop was attended by participants from 9 Member
Countries of the Region, Dr Rajesh Bhatia, Regional Advisor, WHO South East
Asia Regional Office, and Professor David Warrell,
Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine, St Cross College, John Radcliff Hospital, United Kingdom.
The objectives of the workshop are:
 To review the situation of
snakebite as a public health problem in the South East Asia Region and strategies being employed for its
prevention and control
To share revised SEARO guidelines
and management of snakebites and discuss its implementation at country level
including utilization as a teaching tool in medical schools
To review the availability of
snake antivenom
in the South-East Asia Region and identify mechanisms to enhance its
production and availability at the point of use
Snakebites are well-known medical emergencies in many
parts of the world, especially in rural areas. Agricultural workers and
children are the most affected. The true worldwide incidence of snakebite envenoming
has proved difficult to estimate. It has been estimated that there are 5
million snakebites, resulting in 2.5 million envenoming, 125 000 deaths and
perhaps three times that number of people suffer permanent disabilities in
the world each year. The incidence of snake-bite mortality is particularly
high in South-East Asia. In India alone,
there may be as many as 50 000 snakebite deaths each year. As many estimates
of snakebite mortality and resulting permanent morbidity are based on
hospital reports, the actual global impact of this neglected major public
health problem is much higher. Furthermore, when evaluated in terms of
disability adjusted life years (DALYs), the impact
of snake-bites is very high because most victims are children or young agricultural
workers. The impact of snakebite as an occupational disease on the economy is
also highly significant.
WHO-SEARO had developed guidelines on the management of
snakebites. WHO has supported countries in developing similar national
guidelines, as in India in
2007, and has also brought together experts for information sharing, as in Myanmar and Thailand in recent past. The
regional guidelines are being revised to incorporate the latest knowledge. In
this workshop, the revised version of these guidelines, originally published
in 1999 was discussed by the participants.
The workshop has made recommendations for Member Countries
as well as for WHO.
The key recommendations for countries were -
Develop comprehensive national
guidelines on rational management of snake bites and ensure access to
anti-venom on an equitable basis,
Strengthen health system
requirements to provide efficient case management services to victims of
snake bites,
Augment production of
anti-venom,
Institute a surveillance
mechanism on snakes,
Promote community awareness to
overcome myths associated with snake bites and their management,
Seek intercountry
cooperation, and
Undertake operational research
to develop tools for minimizing misery due to snake bites.
And key recommendations for WHO were -
Publish and disseminate revised
guidelines on snake bite management
Undertake advocacy with national
authorities to develop and implement national guidelines on snake bite
management,
Support capacity building in
various aspects of snake bite management,
Collect and share global data on
all aspects of snake bites,
Support operational research on
snake bites management and epidemiology, and,
Facilitate intercountry
cooperation,
Organize regional meetings for
exchange of experiences within the Region.
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