article · Nature Communications
Snakebite envenoming remains a significant cause of preventable global mortality. An analysis applying verbal autopsy and vital registration records to venomous animal contact data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study mapped deaths across locations, age groups, sexes, and years. In 2019, approximately 63,400 deaths occurred worldwide due to snakebites, corresponding to an age-standardised mortality rate of 0.8 per 100,000 people. This reflects a 36 percent decline in the age-standardised death rate since 1990. India experienced the highest mortality burden in 2019, with an age-standardised rate of 4.0 deaths per 100,000. Although projections indicate that deaths will continue to fall, current trends will fall short of the World Health Organization target to halve snakebite mortality by 2030. Addressing this shortfall requires prioritising improved data collection to guide targeted public health interventions and track progress accurately.
Snakebite envenoming causes tens of thousands of preventable deaths each year, with a particularly heavy burden in regions such as India. Understanding long-term mortality trends allows public health bodies to evaluate whether existing efforts are working. Without better data collection and targeted interventions, global efforts will miss the international target to halve snakebite fatalities by 2030.
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Snakebite envenoming is an important cause of preventable death. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to halve snakebite mortality by 2030. We used verbal autopsy and vital registration data to model the proportion of venomous animal deaths due to snakes by location, age, year, and sex, and applied these proportions to venomous animal contact mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. In 2019, 63,400 people (95% uncertainty interval 38,900-78,600) died globally from snakebites, which was equal to an age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of 0.8 deaths (0.5-1.0) per 100,000 and represents a 36% (2-49) decrease in ASMR since 1990. India had the greatest number of deaths in 2019, equal to an ASMR of 4.0 per 100,000 (2.3-5.0). We forecast mortality will continue to decline, but not sufficiently to meet WHO's goals. Improved data collection should be prioritized to help target interventions, improve burden estimation, and monitor progress.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33627-9
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