Noting that India’s decision to notify snakebite as a disease is a monumental step forward in recognising the accurate scale of this neglected health issue, Dr Smita Mahale, former director of ICMR-NIRRCH, under whom the institute took up snakebite research in 2014. She added “For decades, the burden of snakebite fatalities and injuries has remained hidden. With this declaration, we can ensure better surveillance, timely treatment, and ultimately, a reduction in preventable deaths.”She further said that the institute initiated research on snakebite funded by ICMR’s tribal Health Research Forum, implemented through the Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU), Dahanu, Palghar district of Maharashtra. Through training medical officers on snakebite envenoming management and active involvement of the community and traditional healers, we brought down the death rate by 90% in the region.Seeing the potential in the Dahanu Model, as it is known today, the ICMR National Task Force on snakebite research in India up-scaled the project to the states of Maharashtra and Odisha through the ICMR National Snakebite Project (INSP).Dr Gajbhiye, the principal investigator of the Dahanu snakebite project and the INSP, added, “With more than 50,000 deaths per year, India is dubbed the ‘snakebite capital of the world.’
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