Snake bite victim reporting still a bottleneck in Telangana

Neither the Government hospitals nor private hospitals in Hyderabad and districts have a fool proof system of data gathering, sharing and reporting, which could make snakebite incidents easy to track and treat

Hyderabad: Reporting and active surveillance of snake bites remains a major bottleneck in the public health care system of Telangana State, due to inordinate delay in making it a notifiable disease.

Neither the State-run Government hospitals nor private hospitals in Hyderabad and districts have a fool proof system of data gathering, sharing and reporting, which could make snakebite incidents easy to track and treat.

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It has been nearly six months since the Union Health Ministry urged the State governments and UTs to make snake bites a notifiable disease. However, so far, not many States, including Telangana, have taken a firm decision to make snake bites notifiable.

At present, there is no real-time tracking of snake bite victims in Telangana State. Mandatory reporting of snake bites will produce accurate real-time data of incidents and deaths, which will give a fair idea of the true burden of the problem.

“If we want to reduce the number of snake bites in the coming half-a-decade, then there is definitely a need to make it a notifiable disease. We have been working closely with senior union health ministry officials on this issue. As a result, the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming from India by 2030″ (NAPSE) has recommended snake bites be a notifiable disease,” says Avinash Visvanathan, general secretary, Friends of Snakes Society (FOSS).

Last November/December, the MOHFW had written letters to all State Principal Secretaries and Secretaries for Health departments to establish a process of mandatory reporting/notification of all snake bites cases. Several Indian States including Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Meghalaya have already made snake bites a notifiable disease.

While the Centre has been urging that snake bites be made notifiable, since health is a state-subject, its implementation and legal mandate will depend on State Governments. Subject experts said that the notification and mandates under specific public health acts must come from the State government, subject experts said.

Advantages of making snake bites notifiable disease:

“Making snake bites a notifiable disease will give us a fair idea of the disease burden of snake bites in Telangana and across the country. Private hospitals will have to report snake bites, which is not the case so far,” says Avinash.

Notifiable disease will improve surveillance, identification of hotspots, accurate data enables ensuring anti-venom supplies are available at the correct health care facilities and implementing correct treatment protocols that will save more lives due to snake bites.