The WHO issued a warning on Tuesday about how floods brought on by climate change is making snake bites—which kill tens of thousands of people annually—worse in certain countries where access to antivenoms is limited.
Up to 2.7 million people are bitten by poisonous snakes annually, resulting in up to 138,000 estimated deaths.
David Williams, a snakebite expert for the World Health Organization, told reporters in Geneva that one person dies from a snakebite every four to six minutes.
According to him, a much higher number of people—roughly 240,000 annually—are left permanently disabled.
Snake venom can result in tissue damage that can cause permanent impairment and limb loss, irreversible renal failure, bleeding disorders that can cause lethal hemorrhage, and paralysis that stops breathing.
The poorest and most tropical areas of the world are home to the majority of snake bite victims; children are particularly vulnerable because of their tiny stature.
Williams emphasized that when a family member becomes disabled from a snake bite, not only can the victim but also their entire family become impoverished because of the expensive nature of therapy but also because the victim’s income is lost.
The fact that “some regions of the world simply don’t have enough safe and effective treatments available to them” was a serious issue, he warned.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, access to approximately 2.5 percent of the anticipated treatments required is lacking.
In 2019, the United Nations Health Organization clarified that some businesses have ceased producing life-saving antivenoms since the 1980s, resulting in a severe scarcity in Africa and certain Asian nations.
According to Williams, India is the worst-affected nation in the world, with 58,000 fatal snake bites occurring there annually. Bangladesh and Pakistan, India’s neighbors, are also severely impacted.
According to him, some areas are seeing harsher conditions as a result of climate change. He specifically mentioned how floods frequently leads to an increase in snakebites.
He mentioned Nigeria, saying that the country is currently “going through a critical shortage of snake antivenom due to an influx of additional cases of snakebite that have been brought about by the flooding”.
“And this is a problem that occurs in many areas of the world where these sorts of disasters occur on a regular basis,” he stated.
An increase in snakebites had also coincided with significant flooding incidents in South Sudan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, and other nations.
The WHO also issued a warning, stating that there was a chance that climate change may alter the distribution and quantity of venomous snakes, thereby putting previously untouched nations at risk.
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