Skip to main content
Stories from Twic and Abyei Special Administrative Area
Achan rests on her hospital bed following treatment from MSF teams, after being bitten by a snake on her leg, as she had gone to fetch water. One of her children came with her to the hospital, as Achan is still breastfeeding. Abyei, South Sudan, November 2025.
© Maurizio Debanne/MSF

Updated 8 April 2026

A hidden health crisis, bites from venomous snakes make up to 2.7 million people sick each year. Up to nearly 140,000 people die, and a further 400,000 people can be left disfigured and/or disabled.

Despite having the highest mortality of all the 21 neglected tropical diseases recognised by the World Health Organization, investment in snakebite prevention and treatment remains severely underfunded and overlooked. 

MSF teams treated around 7,000 people for snakebite in 2024. However, many patients arrive too late for treatment; timely access to polyvalent antivenom and empowered health services – such as having treatment and trained medical staff at health posts and clinics, rather than just hospitals – can save lives.  

Understanding quickly which snake is responsible for a bite can also help improve antivenom treatment for patients. In collaboration with the University of Geneva, MSF teams have designed an artificial intelligence animal recognition software to help our colleagues who are not snake specialists distinguish venomous snakes from common snakes, and. The tool has been trained with more than 380,000 photos to recognise snake species. 

Animation Snakebite ENG
video

Barriers to snakebite treatment

How barriers can be life-threatening for snakebite treatment

In Ethiopia's Amhara region, barriers to timely healthcare severely impact patients with life-threatening, time-sensitive neglected tropical diseases, such as snakebite.

Most of our patients’ testimonies highlight critical obstacles: insecurity along travel routes, transportation costs unaffordable to most, and initially using traditional medicines.

These delays can lead to preventable complications or deaths.