There will be nothing to save people bitten by snakes, because the stocks of universal antidote to their venom are running out – warns BBC News, citing the organization Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Medicins Sans Frontieres says the lives of up to tens of thousands of people may be at risk. Fav-Afrique stocks will most likely run out in June 2016 and there will be no comparable measure for even two years.
The reason is that Sanofi Pasteur has stopped producing one of the best-performing antidotes available in the world. The French company claims that its production has ceased to be profitable, and there are other drugs on the market for snake venom.
MSF claims, however, that the company’s formulation is universal, as it neutralizes the effects of 10 different snake venoms found mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. This is of great importance as many people do not know what they have been bitten by. Therefore, the use of a universal remedy increases the chances of successful treatment.
Sanofi spokesman Alain Bernal assures that the company wants to share the Fav-Afrique production technology with another pharmaceutical company, but admits that talks on this matter are still ongoing and the agreement has not yet been concluded.
According to Polly Markandy from the organization Doctors Without Borders, the production of this preparation will not be possible to resume even before the end of 2016. In his opinion, it may not be available for up to two years. “We are afraid that many people will die unnecessarily,” he adds.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), 5 million people are bitten by snakes each year, 100 of whom are bitten by snakes. dies, and 400 thousand. is disabled or maimed. Only in sub-Saharan Africa, 30 people die from it every year. inhabitants, and 8 thousand. undergoes limb amputation.
“Treating snake bites is seriously neglected and requires investment,” says the WHO.