Awareness carried out on snakes, snake bite

IT is estimated that 1,000 preventable deaths occur from snake bites annually in Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby Nature Park general manager Michelle McGeorge says.
She said this during the second International Snakebite Awareness Day commemoration yesterday.
McGeorge said nearly half of the fatalities involved children.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, between 81,000 and 138,000 people worldwide died every year from snakebite and up to 400,000 were left permanently disabled or disfigured as a result of being bitten by venomous snakes.
She said in 2017, WHO recognised snakebite envenom as a neglected tropical disease.
McGeorge said the day aimed to raise awareness of the global scale of snakebite injuries and promote prevention and treatment.
She said not all snakes were dangerous because of the 113 snakes in PNG, only seven were deadly to humans.
“Prevention of snakebite is the first step in stopping snakebite crisis,” she said.
“Snakes are important to the eco system and we should respect, not fear or hate them.
“We need to know and learn the tools that will help prevent us from being bitten.” She said snakebite prevention tips included wearing gumboots or shoes and long pants when walking in grass, walking noisily, keeping grass short and wood and rubbish away from the house and not trying to catch or kill snakes.
“Many people are bitten by snakes because they try to catch and kill them.”
St John Ambulance assistant commissioner and director of operations Rigona Rita said after a snakebite, failure to seek help as soon as possible would result in death.
He said signs of snakebite were not always visible and symptoms would appear after an hour as some patients would not feel anything.
The park’s Snaketastic programme ends on Oct 13.