The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) task force has started a study on the incidence, mortality, morbidity and socioeconomic burden of snakebite in the country.
A first of its kind in India, the study will look prospectively at the incidences of snakebite, covering 13 States including Himachal Pradesh, in five zones of India and a population of 84 million. The other States are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura.
An article on the study ‘ICMR task force project – A survey of the incidence, mortality, morbidity and socioeconomic burden of snakebite in India: A study protocol’ has been published in the international research journal Plos One on 22 August 2022. The national Principal Investigator for the ICMR study is Dr. Jaideep C. Menon from Preventive Cardiology -Population Health Sciences, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences-Research Centre, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, Kerala, while Dr. Omesh Bharti, State Epidemiologist with Department of Health and Family Welfare, Himachal Pradesh government is the national Principal Co-Investigator.
“This study will generate real data on snakebite incidences, mortality, morbidity and socioeconomic burden of snakebite for the first time in the country to help the decision-makers in policy framing to prevent and control snakebite in India. The country still doesn’t know the real snakebite burden and is hence groping in the dark when it comes to policy,” said Dr. Bharti.
He said the survey is in progress and it takes into consideration all the geographical areas like hilly, plains, marshy, desert and coastal. “It is the first such study design for the survey of snakebite incidence in South East Asia. Sri Lanka has done it, but they covered a population of 1% only, whereas our study would cover a population of 6.12%,” said Dr. Bharti.
He said the snakebite incidence study is being carried out in 31 districts in all geographical zones in the country, including West, Central, South, East, North and North-East in 13 States. Three districts of Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, Chamba and Una are also included in it.
