It’s being described as a “silent crisis” in Papua New Guinea, a deadly injury with a mortality rate 3-times higher than malaria and tuberculosis that accounts for most ventilator bed-stays at Port Moresby hospital.
The culprit? Snake bites.
While the availability of modern antivenom has drastically lowered the death rates from snake bites in many parts of the world, in PNG they often go unreported and treatment is prohibitively costly.
Venom toxinologist from the PNG Snakebite Initiative Inc. Ben Bande says access is one of their biggest hurdles in education is access, particularly in rural and remote areas.
“But one of the things that has been helpful is the access of telecommunication,” he said, “when we do awareness on social media … that’s where they educate themselves.”