Venom of neglect

Snakebites are becoming common across Nepal, with 20,000 to 40,000 cases reported every year.

Deaths from snakebites are avoidable, and there are measures to prevent the bites. Proper awareness about first aid and timely treatment in well-equipped hospitals are often pivotal in saving lives. But these interventions are few and far between in the remote hill areas of Nepal. For instance, Karnali , a province beset by poverty and inadequate healthcare, has over the past few years seen an increase in snakebites in its high-elevation district, Kalikot (4,000 metres), due to climate change and rising temperatures. During each rainy season, venomous snakes lurk in roads, courtyards and fields. Recently, a man from Karkiwada in ward 5 of Khadachakra Municipality in Kalikot district succumbed to a snakebite as there was no health facility in the vicinity. Even the hospital in Manma, the district headquarters, lacked a designated anti-venom and intensive care facility. He was then referred to the provincial headquarters, Birendranagar, but died on the way.