Maharashtra Designates Snakebite as Notified Disease, Strengthens Prevention and Treatment, ETHealthworld
Mumbai: Public health minister Prakash Abitkar told the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that public awareness, timely treatment, availability of anti-snake venom and coordination between various departments will be made more effective to prevent deaths due to snakebite in the state.
Abitkar also informed the House that the state govt had decided to send a proposal to the law and justice department to include snakebite in the list of notified diseases.
Abitkar was speaking while responding to a calling attention motion by MLA Vikram Pachpute. MLAs Shweta Mahale, Babasaheb Deshmukh, Arjun Khotkar and Jayant Patil participated in the discussion.
Abitkar said that as per the guidelines given by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), availability of anti-snake venom has been ensured in district hospitals, rural hospitals and primary health centres.
“Necessary training has been given to medical staff and awareness campaigns are being carried out up to the gram panchayat level. Fear often leads to serious consequences after a snakebite. Therefore, patients need to reach the hospital during the ‘golden hours’ and widespread awareness will be created in this regard,” Abitkar said.
“Currently, there is sufficient stock of anti-snake venom in the state. Funds have been provided for training, and the training process has been completed. If any errors are found, they will be rectified immediately. It has been decided to make ‘anti-snake venom kits’ available to identify whether a snakebite is poisonous or not in a short time and these kits are being distributed in primary health centers. This will help in determining the direction of treatment immediately and help patients get timely treatment,” Abitkar said.
Abitkar said that it is mandatory to display public awareness information in all primary health centers and gram panchayats and action will be taken if any errors are found in it. “Since the number of snakebite cases increases during the monsoon, alert notices will be issued to the health systems and coordination will be done with the Medical Education Department to provide intensive care treatment facilities where necessary. The govt will take necessary measures in coordination with all the concerned departments to further strengthen the snakebite prevention, treatment and research system in the state,” Abitkar said.
