30 July,2009 09:42 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
As several people die every year due to shortage of medicines made from snake venom, state govt will soon start a venom extraction centre
Fifty herpetologists from Pune will soon join a team of 1,300 snake protectors to set up a venom extraction centre in Nashik in Maharashtra. The centre, which will be named as Sanjeevan Sarpamitra Bahuuddeshiya Society (SSBS), will help produce more quantity of ASV in Hafkin and Serum Institutes in Mumbai and Pune respectively. Dr Narendra Dabholkar, executive president, ANS, "An anti-venom dose is the only way to treat a snakebite," he said.
Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS), which is actively involved with the centre, highlight the fact that most deaths due to snakebites occur, as people in Maharashtra go to quacks instead of doctors.
"At least 1,000 people die due to snakebites in the state due to acute shortage of Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) injections in hospitals," said State Forest Minister Babanrao Pachpute.
Extraction
Companies that make ASV cater to only 60 per cent requirement in the state. Rajesh Thombre, founder president, SSBS, "Venom from snakes will be extracted only once a week," he said.u00a0 Cases of snakebites reported in state hospitals are only around 3,000 per year, whereas more than a double go unreported. Life-saving drugs Dr Suresh Jadhav, executive director, Serum India Institute Limited (SIIL), which manufactures ASV said that currently, they receive snake poison for anti-venom production only from Irula Snake Co-operative Industrial Society in Tamil Nadu. "Snake venom is also used in many life-saving drugs," added Jadhav.
Neelamkumar Khaire, consultant at the Rajeev Gandhi Sarpodyan in Pune, said that the forest department should control its venom extraction activity and not turn it into a commercial activity. "If things go as per the law, we are ready to train people to catch and milk snakes," he added.
