In India alone, it has been estimated that as many as 2.8 million people are bitten by snakes, and 46 900 people die from snakebite every year. In neighbouring Bangladesh, a nationwide epidemiological survey estimated that 589 919 snakebites occurred each year, resulting in 6041 deaths. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where data are even more incomplete, up to a million people are reported as being bitten each year, with estimates of 7000–20 000 deaths annually. Case-fatality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are almost certainly under-reported, given that in West Africa alone there are 3557–5450 deaths. At one hospital in Nigeria, 6687 snakebites were treated in just three years, while in Burkina Faso 114 126 snakebites were reported nationally over a five-year period (2010–2014).

Gaining a complete understanding of the size of the problem is compounded by the dependence of many people on traditional medicine. This is often culturally-based, but it also occurs through necessity (when formal health care is inaccessible) and through ignorance of the availability of modern medical treatments. A study in Mali reported 49.7% of victims seeking initial treatment from traditional sources, and in Nepal 56% of victims resorted to traditional medicine as primary health-seeking behaviour, while in Kenya the figure is at least 68%. Reliance on traditional medicine not only detrimentally impacts the outcomes of snakebite envenoming, but contributes to the poor visibility of snakebite cases in conventional measurements of disease burden.

An ongoing crisis restricting access to safe, effective antivenom treatment in many regions, and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, is one factor that contributes to the predisposition for seeking help through traditional medicine. Other factors such as poor access to health services, limited infrastructure, poverty, cultural barriers and other factors also play a role in and contribute to considerable morbidity and mortality. Many victims fail to reach hospital in time or seek medical care after a considerable delay because they first seek treatment from traditional healers. Some even die before reaching hospital.

In addition to mortality, some snakebite victims survive with permanent physical damage due to tissue necrosis, spat venom-ophthalmia, persistent nerve damage and, sometimes, psychological consequences. Because of issues relating to treatment costs, loss of earning capacity and ongoing disability, the economic impact of snakebite can be considerable.