<p>Even as snakebites are raising public health concerns, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has declared snakebite cases and deaths a &ldquo;notifiable disease&rdquo; in India.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As per data from the Ministry, around 50,000 deaths in India occur due to an estimated 3-4 million snakebites annually. This accounts for half of all snakebite deaths globally. However, the cases are grossly underreported.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Snakebites are an issue of public health concern and in certain cases, they cause mortality, morbidity, and disability. Farmers, tribal population, etc. are at higher risk,&rdquo; said Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, in a letter, addressed to the Secretaries of Health of all States and Union Territories (UTs).</p>
<p>&ldquo;You are requested to make snakebite cases and deaths a &lsquo;Notifiable Disease&rsquo; under the relevant provisions under the State Public Health Act or other applicable legislation&rdquo;.</p>
<p>The letter urged all government and private health facilities (including medical colleges) to &ldquo;make it mandatory to report all suspected, probable snakebite cases and deaths in the enclosed format&rdquo;, read the letter.</p>
<p>The common krait, Indian cobra, Russell's viper, and saw-scaled viper are responsible for about 90 per cent of snakebites in the country.</p>
<p>While polyvalent anti-snake venom (ASV) -- with antibodies against these four -- is effective in 80 per cent of cases, the lack of trained human resources and health facilities to treat snakebite patients remains a cause of concern.</p>
<p>Other major hindrances are the lack of data on incidence, morbidity, mortality, socio-economic burden, treatment patterns, etc.</p>
<p>In March, MoFHW launched the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming (NAPSE) to address the issue of snakebite.</p>
<p>The action plan aims to &ldquo;halve the snakebite-related deaths by the year 2030&rdquo;, Srivastava said.</p>
<p>The plan carries defined strategic components, roles, and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in snakebite management, control, and prevention.</p>
<p>A key objective of NAPSE is to boost the surveillance of snakebite cases and deaths in the country.</p>
<p>Srivastava called for developing a &ldquo;robust surveillance system for accurately tracking snakebite incidents and deaths&rdquo;. This will provide valuable data to inform and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.</p>
<p>It will also help the stakeholders understand "accurate burden, high-risk areas, factors responsible for deaths of snakebite victims," which in return would result in the improved clinical management of victims, Srivastava said</p>
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Snakes like common krait, Indian cobra, Russell`s viper, and saw-scaled viper are responsible for about 90 per cent of snakebites in the country

Centre declares snakebites a notifiable disease in India

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As per data from the Ministry, around 50,000 deaths in India occur due to an estimated 3-4 million snakebites annually. This accounts for half of all snakebite deaths globally. However, the cases are grossly underreported

Centre declares snakebites a notifiable disease in India

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Centre declares snakebites a notifiable disease in India

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