The 6^th international conference on envenomation by Snakebites and Scorpion Stings in Africa: a crucial step for the management of envenomation

 

Jean-Philippe Chippaux^1 2 3, Marc Hermann Akaffou³, Bernard Kouadio Allali³, Mireille Dosso³, Achille Massougbodji¹, Benedito Barraviera⁴  

 

1 CERPAGE, Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Bénin.

2 UMR 216, MERIT, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement et Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité

3 Faculté de Pharmacie, Paris, France.

3 Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire, Unité d'Entomologie/Herpétologie, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

4 Center for the Study of Venoms and Venomous Animals (CEVAP), São Paulo State University (UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.

 

ABSTRACT

During the 6^th International Conference on Envenomation by Snakebites and Scorpion Stings in Africa held in Abidjan, from 1 to 5 June 2015, the measures for the management of envenomation were discussed and new recommendations were adopted by the participants. The high incidence and severity of this affliction were confirmed by several studies conducted in African countries. The poor availability of antivenom, particularly because of the cost, was also highlighted. Some experiences have been reported, mainly those regarding the financial support of antivenom in Burkina Faso (more than 90 %) and Togo (up to 60 %) or the mandatory reporting of cases in Cameroon. Key recommendations concerned: improvement of epidemiological information based on case collection; training of health workers in the management of envenomation; policy to promote the use of effective and safe antivenom; and antivenom funding by sharing its costs with stakeholders in order to improve antivenom accessibility for low-income patients.

 

Key words: Envenomation; Antivenom; Epidemiology; Drug policy; Africa

 

Received: October 9, 2015.

Accepted: February 18, 2016.

 

Correspondence: jean-philippe.chippaux@ird.fr

 

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

 

Authors' contributions

All authors conceived the text and participated in its design. JPC drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

 

doi: 10.1186/s40409-016-0074-7