Therapy
Timeline.
Timeline.
The first snake antivenom produced, against the Indian Cobra. Immunotherapy with animal-derived antivenom has continued to be the main treatment for snakebite envenoming for 120 years.
1895
The Fav-Afrique antivenom, produced by Sanofi Pasteur (France) permanently discontinued.
2014
World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite envenoming as a neglected tropical disease
2018
2019
WHO launches a strategy to prevent and control snakebite envenoming, including a program targeting affected communities and their health systems
SRPNTS launched.
in 2019 with £9 million funding from the UK government through the Department for International Development (DFID) through March 2021
WHO neglected tropical disease.
In 2018, snakebite envenoming (SBE) was officially recognized as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) by the World Health Organization (WHO). This led to the development and launch, in May 2019, of their official snakebite strategy document; ‘Snakebite Envenoming – A Strategy for Prevention and Control’, which outlines the key strategy and actions required to reach their target of reducing deaths and disabilities associated with snakebite by 50% by 2030.
The strategy is based on four strategic objectives;
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Empower and engage communities,
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Ensure safe, effective treatments,
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Strengthen Health systems,
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Increase partnership, coordination and resources.
These objectives are separated into three distinct phases (figure 1):
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The Pilot,
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Scale-up,
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Full roll-out.
To achieve this goal the WHO estimates that it will cost $136.76M between 2019 and 2030.
Figure 1 - the strategic objectives, target, and implementation phases within the WHO SBE strategy