KOCHI: Experts who attended a conference on internal medicine here have opined that anti-venom therapy in India has a long way to go considering the peculiarities of the tropical region. Discussing the need for novel research in anti-venom therapy for treating snake poison at the Internal Medicine Conference, Prof David Warell, past international director of Royal College of Physicians, London, and stalwart in tropical medicine, said that snakes of the same species have different poison levels at different places.
"Anti-venom available in India is mostly poly anti-venom (same for all species of snakes), and is quite old and needs further improvisation. Snake bites occur usually in people who work outdoor especially in the rural areas. They require the anti-venom the most and they are mostly poor and financially deprived. Various states in India should do studies on developing better anti-venoms with good government participation so that quality anti-venom at affordable cost are made available for these sections of society," said Prof David Warell. Dr. Jabir Abudllakutty, organizing secretary of the conference, said physicians from around India attended the conference as delegates.
