Gaon Connection launches 'The Golden Hour' campaign to raise awareness on snakebite deaths
With an aim to raise awareness on the issue of snakebites in India, Gaon Connection will launch a month-long campaign tomorrow which is titled as 'The Golden Hour'. The campaign will include ground reports, videos, podcasts, workshops, street plays, and insights from experts to help curb the fatality of snake bites. Details here.
गाँव कनेक्शन 15 July 2022 1:14 PM GMT
Despite the country being the world's leading manufacturer and exporter of anti-venom drugs, these life-saving medications are mostly unavailable to people in rural areas.
The rainy season in India is known to cause a spike in the incidence of snakebites. In a bid to address the misinformation, lack of awareness and medical infrastructure to combat the snake bite menace in the country, Gaon Connection has launched a month-long awareness campaign titled 'The Golden Hour', on July 16.
The campaign will involve ground reports on the cases of victims and survivors of snake bites as well as video stories depicting their case studies. It will also include posters, podcasts, media workshops, and interviews with experts who will throw light on the dos and don'ts to curb the fatality in the cases of snake bites.
In cases of snake bites, time is of supreme importance, which is why the first hour after the snakebite is known as 'The Golden Hour' when with life saving medical interventions can be administered and lives can be saved. But if there is a delay in administering the anti-venom drug, chances are that the snake bite will cause grave organ damage, or prove to be fatal. With an aim to highlight this life saving time window between a snake bite and the medical treatment is the reason our campaign is titled 'The Golden Hour'.
In his video message, Gaon Connection founder Neelesh Misra mentioned that the month-long campaign seeks to inform the public about the measures needed to check the human deaths caused by snake bites as well as protect the lives of the reptiles who are killed on the suspicion of being poisonous.
"This campaign will not only probe the availability of the medical infrastructure needed to prevent the deaths caused by snake bites but also try to quell the myths and misinformation due to which many snakes, who serve a vital role in the ecosystem, are killed by the misinformed villagers," Misra said.
According to a July 2020 study titled Trends in snakebite mortality in India from 2000 to 2019 in a nationally representative mortality study, of the 2.8 million people bitten by snakes every year in India, 58,000 people die. And up to 94 per cent of the snakebite deaths are from rural India.
The first ground report as part of the series which will be published tomorrow, has found that one of the main reasons for these deaths is lack of quick access to anti-venom drugs.
Despite the country being the world's leading manufacturer and exporter of anti-venom drugs, these life-saving medications are mostly unavailable to people in rural areas.
