Exploring the Feasibility and Value of Pioneering Partnerships to Reduce Avoidable Snakebite Deaths in India

A particularly pressing area of the opportunity for reducing avoidable deaths is snakebite deaths in India. Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease (NTD). It results from the injection of venom, a specialised toxic secretion into humans by the bite of a venomous snake. According to WHO (2021), about 5.4 million snakebites occur each year, resulting in 1.8 to 2.7 million cases of envenoming. India accounts for approximately half of all global snakebite deaths reported through traditional surveillance systems and is responsible for 2.97 million bites each year (Gutiérrez et al., 2017). Unlike many other NTDs, snakebite is entirely avoidable through preventable, treatable interventions and governance (The Lancet, 2017; Nuñez, Alcoba and Warrell, 2019; Ray-Bennett and Sahoo, 2022). Eight Indian States, viz. Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan – carry the global burden of deaths and suffering. In collaboration with more than 21 collaborators from India and beyond, this project aims to identify, map and assess the feasibility of context-specific key stakeholders to bring them into one networking platform in the next phase of this project to foster dialogue and discussions within and across the eastern and central Indian states; coordination, cooperation and communication amongst responders for resource sharing and response at local levels; identify scope for transformative research that combines social, medical and space sciences; and improve the capacity of local stakeholders. In doing so the project aims to contribute to WHO’s Snakebite Envenoming Strategy for Prevention and Control which aims to i) halve the number of deaths and cases of disability by 2030; ii) empower and engage communities, iii) strengthen health systems, iv) increase partnerships, coordination, and resources (Nuñez, Alcoba and Warrell, 2019). Furthermore, this Strategy works in alignment with SDG 3.8, 3B-D, and in the context of this study through ‘Sendai Framework’s Targets A, B and E and climate change due to extreme weather events. </p

Sexual and Reproductive Service Interventions for Menstrual Regulation, Safe Abortion and Post-Abortion Care and Their Effectiveness During Disaster Response: A Global Systematic Review

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