Supreme Court Issues Notice On PIL Raising Issue Of Snake Bites In India

The Supreme Court today issued notice on a public interest litigation assailing non-availability of treatment (anti-venom drugs, etc.) and lack of awareness related to snake bites in the country.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan passed the order, calling for the response of Union of India as well as the States/Union Territories impleaded as party-respondents.

Briefly put, the PIL, filed by Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi seeks to enforce fundamental rights of citizens who are victims of snake bites. It states that Tripathi's mother was herself a victim of snake bite in 2019 and continues to suffer from ill-effects till date.

Through the plea, Tripathi highlights that Snakebite envenomation (SBE) is an acute, life-threatening, time-limiting, medical emergency affecting 1.8-2.7 million people with estimated 138,000 deaths annually across the globe. India, in particular, contributes an average of 58,000 deaths annually.

"India is one of the world's most affected countries due to the large population engaged in agricultural activities, use of wattle and daub houses in snakebite-prone rural areas, several slum areas, presence of abundant venomous snakes and lack of community awareness regarding prevention and control of snakebites."

It is averred that standard treatment guidelines (STGs) for management of snakebites were published in 2017. However, the implementation of STG protocol remains very poor in public and private healthcare systems in India.

It is further the petitioner's contention that cases reported to health ministries by clinics and hospitals are often only a small proportion of the actual burden, because many victims never reach primary care facilities. In addition, it is asserted that thousands of rural people are killed every year after being bitten by venomous snakes in India, but little attention is given to treating the “poor man disease”.

"Under-reporting of snake bite incidence and mortality is common. Likewise, a very large community level study of snakebite deaths in India gave a direct estimate of 45 900 (99% CI: 40 900–50 900) deaths in 2005, which is over 30 times higher than the Government of India's official figure. Revised estimates based on verbal autopsies and other data now suggest that as many as 1.2 million Indians died from snakebite envenoming between 2000–2019 (average of 58 000/year)."

The petition adds that lack of adequate information about the crisis leads National health authorities to underestimate the need for antivenom, which reduces demand for antivenom product. Reliance is placed on news reports to point out that there is shortage of anti-venom drugs in the country.

In the backdrop of the aforesaid, the petition claims that India has earned the title of "snakebite capital of the world", as it accounts for nearly half of the global snakebite deaths.

It further states that available antivenoms (poly-venom) primarily target the “Big Four” snakes responsible for most fatalities: the Russell's viper, common krait, Indian cobra, and Indian saw-scaled viper. "However, there are numerous other venomous species in India that can cause severe envenomation but for which effective antivenoms are not available."

Some of the long-term health consequences of snake bites are stated to be: chronic pain and disability, amputation and scarring, kidney failure and recurrent health issues. The following prayers have been made in the petition:

- Make available poly-venom (anti-venom) and snakebite treatment at primary health centres, community health centres and district hospitals along with government hospitals and medical colleges of the country;

- Conduct snakebite prevention health mission and snakebite public awareness campaign to reduce huge mortality specially in rural India;

- Establish snakebite treatment and care unit along with special trained doctors as per standard medical norms in government district hospitals and medical colleges.

Appearance: Advocate Vishal Tiwari and AoR Chand Qureshi

Case Title: SHAILENDRA MANI TRIPATHI Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., Diary No. 48030-2024

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