University of Melbourne: New WHO strategy aims to halve the global impact of snakebite
“A new World Health Organization (WHO) strategy aims to halve the impact of snakebite, which affects 5.4 million people globally each year, kills up to 138,000, and leaves 400,000 suffering permanent physical and psychological disabilities. University of Melbourne snakebite expert David Williams, who heads the Australian Venom Research Unit, has played a key role in developing the strategy in his position as chair of the WHO’s Snakebite Envenoming Working Group. … The WHO-led strategy is the first global plan to minimize snakebite’s huge health and socio-economic cost. It aims to reduce the death and disability burden by 50 percent by 2030, through a comprehensive strategy that includes delivering up to three million effective snakebite treatments annually.” The strategy is outlined in a paper by Williams and colleagues in the latest PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2/22).