An international symposium, starting on the 29th August, 2017 at Oxford University in the United Kingdom will provide an important opportunity for dialogue between snakebite experts and WHO. The Venoms 2017 Conference will be largely attended by academia, the NGO community, policy stakeholders and various clinical professionals.
Following snakebite envenoming’s recent addition to the WHOs list of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) the meeting will discuss the next steps required to develop a comprehensive global strategy to drastically reduce the number of snakebite deaths and victims living with long term disability.
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that claims between 81 000 and 138 000 lives every year.
Discussions will also focus on the work WHO is doing to assess the quality and suitability of several antivenom products used for treating snakebite envenoming in Sub-Saharan Africa.
WHO has been assessing products as part of a response to shortages of antivenoms in Africa. Once the results are published, the results will ensure that government procurement agencies have evidence-based data upon which to make purchasing decisions.
A round table discussion at the meeting is expected to help inform the development of WHO’s road map plan for the reduction and control of snakebite envenoming.