Kenya's Desperate Need For More Snake Antivenom

Malindi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Apr, 2025) Writhing in pain on a hospital bed in a Kenyan coastal town, teenage snakebite victim Shukurani Konde Tuva faced the grim reality of his left leg being amputated from above the knee.

The 14-year-old was bitten by a puff adder -- a venomous snake and the most common snakebite in sub-Saharan Africa -- while eating outdoors in his village near the town of Malindi more than a month ago.

His family rushed him to hospital two hours away by motorbike, but the antivenom he received did not help.

"My son's leg is totally rotten and maggots are even emanating from it. They'll have to cut it," said his distraught mother, Mariamu Kenga Kalume.

Some 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year globally and roughly half are poisoned by venom, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data.

Up to 138,000 people die and 400,000 suffer permanent physical effects, though the WHO says the numbers are a "gross underestimation" since an estimated 70 percent of cases go unreported.

Traditional beliefs and myths skew the data as some victims turn to homegrown remedies or attribute bites to voodoo "sent by their enemies" instead of seeking medical care.

- 'Snake stone' -

A few kilometres (miles) from where Shukurani lay in pain, traditional healer Douglas Rama Bajila showed AFP the concoctions he uses to "suck out" venom.

One popular remedy is the "snake stone", made from a cow's bone and sold for about $1.

Bajila said it can be reused multiple times: it simply needs to be soaked in milk for a few hours to "recharge".

One was placed on Shukurani's leg as he was transported to hospital but unfortunately fell off along the way, his mother said.

Experts worry that by using traditional snakebite remedies, patients are losing precious time but they are popular because antivenom treatments are expensive.

Antivenoms cost up to 8,000 shillings (about $62) per vial, and some patients require as many as 20 doses.

Ruth Kintalel, 30, from a pastoralist community in Kajiado county near the capital Nairobi, said she spent over five months in hospital after a red spitting cobra bit her in her sleep.

"My husband sold our livestock to cover the rising hospital bill," said Kintalel, who is still paralysed in her right arm seven years later.