The Government of Kerala has declared snakebite as a high priority public health situation. The move is aimed at promoting collection and documentation of information in view of concerns being raised regarding deaths in related incidents.
According to the gazette notification issued on Friday, this important decision was taken under Section 28 of the Kerala Public Health Act, 2023. It says that snakebite is a fatal problem, which occurs due to the bite of poisonous snakes.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Dr Rajan Khobragade issued a notification declaring snake venom disease as an important public health disease for the entire state.
It states that any disease, whether infectious or non-infectious, can be declared a disease of public health importance if the government needs to collect more information about it or any treatment standards are to be followed in relation to it. If proper treatment is not provided in time, the bite of a venomous snake can cause death to a person or cause health problems, including fatal or permanent disability.
This important government notification comes two weeks after a series of directions were issued by the Kerala High Court to deal with the problem of snakebites in schools, including making these cases a notified disease and developing more antivenom drugs.
A division bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Shobha Annamma Eappen gave these directions on September 26 while disposing of two petitions highlighting the lack of medical care required for immediate treatment of snakebite children in Kerala. These petitions were filed in the wake of the death of a student due to snakebite at a government school in Sultan Bathery in Wayanad district on November 20, 2019.