Lok Sabha Question No. 3330 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-13
Subject: Snake Bite Cases
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Balashowry Vallabbhaneni, Alok Kumar Suman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3330 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH MARCH, 2020

## SNAKE BITE CASES

## 3330. SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI: DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of increasing  number  of  snake  bite  cases  and resultant deaths in States/UTs particularly Andhra Pradesh (AP), West Bengal and Bihar, if so, the d etails thereof;

(b) whether AP is the second largest impacted State after West Bengal in snake bite cases, if so, the details thereof;

(c) the measures taken/special emphasis given by the Government to check/curb the impact of snake bite particularly in AP, West Bengal and Bihar; and

(d) whether Indian Council of Medical Research has constituted national task force for research on snake bites, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) & (b): As  per  data  from  Central  Bureau  of  Health  Intelligence  (CBHI),  State/Unio Territory  (UT)  wise  details  of  cases  and  deaths  reported  due  to  snake  bites  in  the including Andhra Pradesh , West Bengal and Bihar during the years 2016 - 2018 are given in Annexure.

As  perthe  saidata,  Andhra  Pradesh  is  the  second  largest  impacted  State  after  We Bengal in snake bite cases in 2018 .

(c) : 'Public  Health  and  Hospital' are State  subject s.  Primary  responsibility  of  ensuring availability of anti - venom injections / drugs in Public health facilities including Primary He Centres and rural hospitals is that of respective State Government.

However,  under  the  National  Health  Mission  (NHM),  Central  Government  provides financial  and  technical  support  to  the  States/Union  Territories  (UTs)  for  strengtheni healthcare delivery system. This includes support for free of cost essential drugs i ncluding anti -venom vaccination to those accessing public healthcare facilities upto district hospitals, National Free Drugs Service Initiative. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also issued directions to all the States / UTs to include Anti Snake Venom Serum (ASVS) in the list of essential drugs of the State, procure these drugs locally for supply to health facilitie the needy persons and support the same under the National Health Mission.

Government  has  issued  directions  t o  the  Drug  Controller  General  of  India  (DCGI)  to monitor the pharmaceutical firms producing Anti - Rabies  Vaccine  (ARV) for  ensuring  regular supply to the States.

- (d) Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has constituted a 'National Task Force for Rese arch on Snake Bite in India' with the following national level multi - centric projects:
- I. Nationwide Study to estimate incidence, mortality, morbidity and economic burden d to snakebite in India
- II. ICMR  National  Snakebite  Project  (INSP)  on  capacity  building  of health  system  on prevention and management of snakebite envenomation including its complications.

## State/UT - wise Cases and Deaths due to Snake Bite reported during the years 2016 -2018

| S. No.   | State /U.T        | 2016       | 2016   | 2017     | 2017   | 2018 (Provisional)   | 2018 (Provisional)   |
|----------|-------------------|------------|--------|----------|--------|----------------------|----------------------|
| S. No.   | State /U.T        | Cases      | Deaths | Cases    | Deaths | Cases                | Deaths               |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 20,809     | 28     | 20,953   | 85     | 25,964               | 117                  |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 43         | 0      | 37       | 0      | 13                   | 1                    |
| 3        | Assam             | 265        | 0      | 810      | 0      | 2,318                | 0                    |
| 4        | Bihar             | 3, 334     | 11     | 2,848    | 14     | 2,924                | 31                   |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      | 3,533      | 60     | 4,109    | 52     | 4,148                | 33                   |
| 6        | Goa               | 620        | 1      | 1,189    | 8      | 1,025                | 1                    |
| 7        | Gujarat           | 5,872      | 72     | 6,209    | 49     | 7,064                | 50                   |
| 8        | Haryana           | 814        | 4      | 944      | 6      | 977                  | 7                    |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  | 1,587      | 23     | 1,465    | 9      | 2,105                | 30                   |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir   | 1,357      | 0      | 1,422    | 1      | 1,391                | 1                    |
| 11       | Jharkhand         | 749        | 15     | 788      | 2      | 481                  | 2                    |
| 12       | Karnataka         | 9,730      | 46     | 8,084    | 28     | 7,507                | 30                   |
| 13       | Kerala            | 3,019      | 12     | 3,608    | 13     | 4,189                | 11                   |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh    | 5,010      | 113    | 5,346    | 96     | 2,646                | 39                   |
| 15       | Maharashtra       | 29,629     | 67     | 16,708   | 35     | 18,707               | 32                   |
| 16       | Manipur           | 118        | 0      | 150      | 0      | 50                   | 1                    |
| 17       | Meghalaya         | 405        | 0      | 282      | 2      | 327                  | 0                    |
| 18       | Mizoram           | 205        | 0      | 278      | 0      | 368                  | 0                    |
| 19       | Nagaland          | 106        | 0      | 136      | 0      | 245                  | 0                    |
| 20       | Odisha            | 15,405     | 120    | 15,274   | 147    | 8,003                | 98                   |
| 21       | Punjab            | 1,511      | 8      | 918      | 3      | 1,421                | 4                    |
| 22       | Rajasthan         | 4,929      | 32     | 6,720    | 45     | 5,810                | 30                   |
| 23       | Sikkim            | 242        | 2      | 130      | 0      | 117                  | 1                    |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        | 16,277     | 44     | 13,668   | 38     | 14,027               | 50                   |
| 25       | Telangana         | 13,729     | 96     | 2,975    | 2      | 3,306                | 9                    |
| 26       | Tripura           | 430        | 1      | 779      | 1      | 813                  | 2                    |
| 27       | Uttarakhand       | 194        | 3      | 128      | 0      | 208                  | 2                    |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     | 6,640      | 118    | 7,448    | 128    | 7,623                | 73                   |
| 29       | West Bengal       | 25,481     | 138    | 31,072   | 268    | 36,229               | 203                  |
| 30       | A & N Islands     | 294        | 0      | 195      | 1      | 208                  | 5                    |
| 31       | Chandigarh        | 3,089      | 36     | 1,294    | 9      | 829                  | 14                   |
| 32       | D & N Haveli      | 609        | 9      | 626      | 7      | 733                  | 4                    |
| 33       | Daman & Diu       | 51         | 0      | 99       | 0      | 130                  | 0                    |
| 34       | Delhi             | 200        | 4      | 263      | 2      | 168                  | 1                    |
| 35       | Lakshadweep       | 0          | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0                    | 0                    |
| 36       | Puducherry        | 2,147      | 5      | 1,695    | 9      | 1,957                | 3                    |
| Total    |                   | 1, 78, 433 | 1,068  | 1,58,650 | 1,060  | 1, 64, 031           | 885                  |

Source:

Monthly Health Condition Reports from Directorate of Health Services of States/UTs