“Snakebites are an issue of public health concern and in certain cases, they cause mortality, morbidity, and disability. Farmers, tribal population, etc. are at higher risk,” said union health secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, in a letter, addressed to the secretaries of health of all states and union territories (UTs).
The secretary called for developing a “robust surveillance system for accurately tracking snakebite incidents and deaths.”
“This will provide valuable data to inform and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions,” it said. In March, MoFHW had launched the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming (NAPSE) with an aim to address the issue of snakebite.
“You are requested to make snakebite cases and deaths a ‘Notifiable Disease’ under the relevant provisions under the state public health act or other applicable legislation”, the letter further said.
The objective of the action plan aims to “halve the snakebite-related deaths by the year 2030”, Srivastava said.
