ИСТИНА

The problem of prevention and treatment of the consequences of venomous snake bites is today considered one of the global public health problems, venomous snake bites are included in the list of “neglected tropical diseases” of the World Health Organization. In May 2019, WHO adopted a strategy for the prevention and treatment of venomous snake bites, designed for the period up to 2030. A key objective of this strategy is to reduce the number of dead and disabled due to the effects of snake venom by 50% compared to today's figures. Sub-Saharan Africa is in the group of countries whose inhabitants are at the highest risk of being bitten by a snake. This region is characterized by a high level of biodiversity, including poisonous snakes of two main systematic groups - vipers and elapids. Economic activity, in which a large part of the population is involved, is inextricably linked with agriculture, which is characterized by seasonal activity. Periods of intensive work in the field intersect in time with activity cycles of poisonous snakes, which makes meeting with them inevitable. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is assessed by experts from WHO and international organizations as critical due to the fact that the main medicaments used in the treatment of snakebites - antivenoms (anti-snake serums) are not produced in any of the countries in the region. The “Snakebite crisis” was triggered by decision of French company Sanofi Pateur to discontinue production of the Fav-Afrique antivenom, effective against venom of the main types of snakes with medical importance. This decision was made in 2014, by 2017, serum reserves were exhausted. Ways to overcome the crisis are associated with the efforts of international organizations, the expert community, manufacturers of antivenoms, which are located outside the region and the World Health Organization. The joint interaction of these actors allowed us to bring the problem to the level of world agenda and led to the emergence of new pharmaceutical products that are economically available for health systems of the region’s countries, and program documents that contribute to redirecting resources of the world community to reduce the severity of this problem.