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The Amrita Hospital, Kochi was honored as a Collaborative Centre of Excellence in the domain of venomous snakebite by the ICMR. The team was represented by Dr. Jaideep C. Menon and Bipin Nair, who received a plaque from the DG-ICMR, Rajeev Behl, at the ICMR headquarters in New Delhi.

This is the first-of-its kind centre for the entire country. The distinction is in recognition of the work done in therapeutic, preventative, capacity building, awareness creation, and research aspects in the field of snakebite. The team includes VV Pillay, Gireesh Kumar, TP Sreekrishnan, Sabarish B. Nair, Muralidharan V, and Aravind MS.

Snakebite envenoming is the most neglected of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), affecting a fifth of humanity and disproportionately impacting impoverished communities in the Tropics. India shares a disproportionate burden in both incidence and mortality due to SNAKEBITE ENVENOMING. WHO data suggests that there are an estimated 4.5 to 5.4 million bites annually around the globe, leading to between 1.8 and 2.7 million envenomings. Of these, 81000 to 138000 victims succumb to complications, with an additional 400000 developing permanent disabilities. It is estimated that about 58,000 victims die due to Snakebite envenoming in India, which accounts for more than half the global deaths due to snakebite envenoming, as compared to the US and Australia, where the number of deaths is in the single digit. Over 70% of snakebite envenoming occurs in males, typically between the ages of 20 and 60, with catastrophic socio-economic impact, especially with the death or disability of the sole earning member of the family.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a global strategy in 2019 to mitigate snakebite (snakebite envenoming), with four themes: empowering communities, ensuring safe and effective treatment, strengthening health systems, and increasing partnerships, coordination, and resources. In September 2022, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) declared the launch of a national programme for the prevention and control of snakebite envenoming. In November 2023, the Indian Council of Medical Research designated Amrita Hospital, Kochi, a Collaborating Centre of Excellence (Collaborative Centre of Excellence) for snakebite research.

The Collaborative Centre of Excellence aims to address several aspects related to snakebite envenoming, including developing information, education, and communication (IEC) material to create awareness on prevention and first aid for snakebites, capacity building of the public health care system for prevention, first aid, diagnosis, and management of snakebite envenoming, conducting high-priority research on snakebite envenomation, networking with stakeholders involved in addressing issues related to snakebite envenoming envenomation and its mitigation, and providing policy inputs to the state and central government to reduce mortality and morbidity associated with snakebite envenomation.

The Collaborative Centre of Excellence aims to generate evidence on snake bites (snakebite envenoming) and develop a repository of information on snakes, venom, and treatment aspects. It will also map hot spots for mitigation and treatment. The Collaborative Centre of Excellence will collaborate with governmental and private institutions to facilitate research and raise awareness about preventative measures. The goal is to achieve the SDG target of 2030, build public health system capacity, and promote advocacy for the cause.