Ian D Simpson, Ingrid M Jacobsen.
Anti snake venom provision in Asia and Papua New Guinea: a guide to potential anti venom products for clinicians, purchasers and manufacturers.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;49(2):47-50.

Despite Africa being the major focus when considering shortages of anti snake venom, other areas such as Asia also suffer the same malaise and have done so for many decades. Asia does possess major suppliers of anti snake venom and it is thus surprising that the need has not been fulfilled. A key contributory factor in the failure to address the shortfall has been a lack of clear guidance to producers on the specific anti venoms to produce and where and which venoms can be sourced to enable production. Previous guidance has focussed on providing lists of medically significant species on the assumption that manufacturers are sufficiently skilled to design the specific anti venom. Unfortunately this is often not the case. This paper provides an analysis of the major suppliers of anti venom in the region, the geographic production, the key areas where shortages exist, the potential anti venoms that can be provided and potential sources of venom. In addition, likely demand for each proposed anti venom is specified, based on epidemiological data for the specific areas. (Review article).

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