Govt efforts

Government Efforts for Snakebite Prevention & Conservation 🏛️🐍

The government has taken several initiatives to reduce snakebite deaths, improve treatment accessibility, and promote snake conservation across India.

  • Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) Production & Distribution – Ensuring availability of ASV in rural hospitals and improving supply chains.
  • Healthcare Training & Awareness – Conducting workshops for doctors, paramedics, and rural healthcare workers on snakebite management.
  • Wildlife Protection & Conservation Laws – Implementing laws to protect snakes under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and supporting rescue operations.
  • Community Awareness Programs – Promoting education campaigns, public outreach, and school initiatives to dispel myths and reduce human-snake conflicts.
  • Research & Data Collection – Collaborating with experts to gather snakebite data and improve response strategies.
  • These efforts aim to save lives, conserve biodiversity, and promote coexistence between humans and snakes.
  • The impact of such awareness has been measured by the records of hospitals and police department. We are collecting data from various states and union territories. The results are very encouraging, hospital wards in many snake bite prone areas are empty, which means there are no cases of snake bites. The impact of awareness programmes is that now (1) snake bite has been included in the list of notified tropical diseases (earlier Neglected Tropical Diseases) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (27 November 2024) in all states and union territories. (2) Recently (13 December 2024), the Supreme Court of India has directed the state governments and union territories to make snake bite treatment available in medical facilities across the country and to organize awareness programmes. (3) The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has constituted a high-level committee on anti snake venom production. Committee has been formed (7 February 2025) (4) CIET Studio of Ministry of Education has started six episodes on Snake Education Campaign and the author (KKS) is in the first episode of this program. The World Health Organization and our government are also constantly trying to make India snake bite-free as soon as possible. The Union Ministry of Health has launched the National Action Plan (NA PSE) on 12 March 2024 for the prevention and control of snake bite deaths in India - an initiative to reduce snake bite deaths by half by 2030 through the 'One Health' approach. Research related to snake bite mortality prevention in the medical field in developed India and continuous public awareness programs like Snake Education Campaign will succeed in making India the first snake bite-free nation in the world

    🐍✨