The government of Nepal, the Ministry of Health and Population, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) and the Society of Internal Medicine of Nepal (SIMON) organized a High-Level Meeting and Workshop on “Snakebite in Nepal: The Challenges and the Needs”. The theme for the workshop was “Preparing for a Nepal where no one dies from snakebite” and it was held from 2-3 August 2019 at Hotel Annapurna, Kathmandu, Nepal. The workshop was inaugurated by the President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari at the Presidential Palace, Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas, Kathmandu.
Important guests were present. David Warrell, Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine from Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine; Honorary Consultant Physician at Oxford University Hospitals Trust; Honorary Fellow, St. Cross College in the UK gave a speech on “The State of Snakebite in the World”.
David Williams, Head of the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Melbourne and Chair and CEO of the Global Snakebite Initiative and WHO Snakebite Roadmap spoke about the work of the World Health Organization and the Global Snakebite Initiative.
Sanjib Kumar Sharma, Professor and Head of Internal Medicine, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences Dharan, Nepal, WHO Snakebite Envenoming Working Group; Board of Directors at Global Snakebite Initiative and Head of the Snakebite Research Centre BPKIHS, Dharan, gave a speech on “The State of Snakebite in Nepal”.
The Honorable President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari addressed the overall workshop. The delegates at the workshop were representatives from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Australia, UK, German, Switzerland and Costa Rica. They shared their work through oral presentations and poster presentations.
Mr. Kamal Devkota, Conservation Partner of Save The Snakes, also participated in the workshop. He distributed brochures, posters, health bulletins and Nepal Toxinology Association bulletins to the delegates. The workshop was a great success with many lessons learnt.
