WHO gears up to solve the world’s antivenom crisis

Last month, the World Health Assembly in Geneva demanded action on a neglected tropical health problem that receives little attention – even when compared with overlooked diseases – snakebite. This is despite snakebites causing 100,000 deaths every year. The resolution called on countries to join forces to ramp up production of antivenom and tighten regulation around its use.

Substandard antivenom is one facet of sub-Saharan Africa’s snakebite crisis. ‘Even taking into account the bad products, there is not enough product available to treat everyone who needs it,’ says David Williams, a clinical toxicologist and herpetologist at the University of Melbourne, Australia. ‘Often what is there is also simply too expensive. Patients can’t afford a full treatment and many only receive a partially effective dose or a dose that is not effective at all.’ This leads to a vicious cycle: patients lose confidence in products and go to traditional healers for treatment instead. That drives down sales and consequently less is made.