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SAVING LIVES WITH ANTIVENOM INNOVATION
Every year, an estimated 2.7 million people are bitten by venomous snakes, resulting in 100,000 deaths, while 400,000 more are left with life-long disfigurement or disability. The majority affected are the most vulnerable – farm workers who walk barefoot in fields and people living in the most remote rural areas with limited access to health, education and medical care.
The only effective treatment for snakebites are antibody medicines known as antivenom. Intravenous fluids and breathing machines are also vital but are difficult to access. The World Health Organization (WHO) includes antivenom on its Essential Medicines List, yet there is so little available.
The main antivenom supplier in sub-Saharan Africa, the state-owned SAVP, has experienced a significant collapse and is unlikely to recover. This has resulted in higher mortality rates for both human and animal snake bite victims – in a region renowned for many venomous snakes including forest cobra, cape cobra, snouted cobra, black mamba, green mamba, puff adder, Mozambique spitting cobra, night adder, boomslang and rinkhals to mention a few.
Usually incredibly expensive and labour-intensive to produce, the collective vision of the pioneers of an innovative antivenom project is to make high-grade antivenom available at a relatively low cost to all of sub-Saharan Africa. How? With harmless plasma extraction from live snakes.
We, the Lööf Foundation, have partnered up with Mr. Donald Schultz, Snake Pharm and Mr. Neville Wolmarans (Ndlondlo Reptile Conservation & Education centre) to support them in their exciting new technology to develop antivenom. On 21 May 2023, we had the unique opportunity to personally fly a number of snakes captured from people’s homes to the North of Zululand in South Africa for release at Phinda Game Reserve. There in the African bush we met with Mr. Schultz, founder and pioneer of Snake Pharm and its revolutionary antivenom. He shared his research insights and some of the process involved. Our greatest pride was being able to fly out a freeze-drying machine which will enable the antivenom to last up to five years without the need of refrigeration – crucial in rural and remote areas.
On 23 May 2023, we received exciting news that the first 3 vials of dry antivenom in South Africa were produced using the freeze-drying machine brought over by Lööf Foundation.
We would like to extend our warmest thank you to Mr Schultz and Mr Wolmarans for all their dedication, great work and for risking their lives every day to save lives!
Images: Collecting captured snakes for relocation. We released them just outside Phinda Game Reserve, South Africa.