Title:
Steps Urged to Prevent Snakebites, Improve
Treatments
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Snakes bite an estimated five and a half million
people worldwide each year. Experts say tens of
thousands of people die from venom poisoning.
An untreated or incorrectly treated bite might
require the removal of a foot or an arm. Each year
around four hundred thousand amputations are the
result of snakebites.
Last year, for the first time, the World Health
Organization added snakebites to its list of
"neglected tropical diseases." This recognition aims
to bring greater attention to the problem.
Scientists know of about three thousand kinds of
snakes.
About six hundred of them are poisonous. These are
most often found in rural areas in tropical
climates.
Asia and Africa have the highest number of
snakebites -- together about four million a year.
Latin America and islands in the South Pacific
follow.
The highest number of victims are agricultural
workers. Snakebites are also common among fishermen,
hunters and children. Many victims live in areas
with poor or non-existent health care systems and
where antivenom treatments are often not available.
Antivenom is the only cure. But experts say
antivenom technologies and their use need to be
improved. Problems include a shortage of
manufacturers and the high cost of treatment.
Also, there is a widespread lack of knowledge among
local health workers about how to use antivenoms.
The treatments can cause dangerous and even deadly
reactions if not used carefully.
Antivenom contains proteins from animals such as
horses or sheep. The animals are injected repeatedly
with one or more different snake venoms to produce
immunity.
The Lancet medical journal recently published a
series of reports on snakebite prevention and
treatment. David Warrell at the University of Oxford
in England co-wrote one of them. He praised efforts
by the WHO to establish common practices for the
production, regulation and control of antivenom. But
he says more must be done.
The authors say community education programs could
help prevent snakebites by teaching people how to
avoid them. They also suggest actions like providing
protective boots to wear while working in fields,
and not sleeping on the ground.
Also important is providing information about where
dangerous snakes are most likely to live and when
they are most active.
And that's the VOA Special English Development
Report.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
