Global Snakebite Initiative: Working to Improve Treatment for Victims

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Laboratory workers in Costa Rica collect venom from a highly poisonous Fer de Lance snake. The venom is used to make a treatment for the snake's bite.
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More than four million people around the world are bitten by snakes each year. At least one hundred twenty-five thousand of these people die. Almost three million others are seriously injured. Doctors and researchers say the world does not provide enough good treatment for poisonous snakebites. To help improve the situation, experts have formed an international project called the Global Snakebite Initiative.

Poisonous snakebites are common in rural areas of many developing countries with hot climates. Many victims are agricultural workers and children in Asia and southern Africa. Shortages of antivenom medicines, the treatment for snakebite, are common there. Existing supplies may not be high quality or developed correctly for local needs.

Ken Winkel directs the University of Melbourne's Australian Venom Research Unit. Doctor Winkel and university scientist David Williams are among the organizers of the Global Snakebite Initiative. Other project leaders are from Britain, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Singapore.

More: http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2009-04-22-voa1.cfm