Spate of snakebites in Kanbalu Twsp highlights ongoing danger for IDPs

By Admin 23 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 June 2023, Kanbalu, Sagaing Region

Eleven internally displaced people (IDPs) from four displacement camps in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, were bitten by snakes from June 1-20, according to healthcare workers assisting the IDPs.

The IDPs — from the Chatthin, Koehtaungboh, Pintharyal and Htangon displacement camps — were bitten by snakes while working on their farms near the camps.

The victims survived as they received antivenom in time, but they are facing difficulties accessing medicines, a health worker said.

He continued that the snakebite victims are supposed to be injected with at least eight antivenom shots, but only four shots were given due to the difficulty in obtaining the medicine.

“An anti-venom produced by [state-owned pharmaceutical factory] BPI costs K100,000 to K130,000. And anti-venom imported from India costs between K35,000 and K55,000,” an aid worker said.

Six people have died in recent months because they could not get medical treatment in time due to lack of antivenoms, travel barriers, or both, said an official from the Kyunhla-Kantbalu Activists Group.

“We cannot buy anti-venoms easily and the medicines are confiscated by junta soldiers. Despite the fact that healthcare and educational talks to reduce snakebites are conducted, IDPs still suffer from snakebites. The number of people suffering from snakebites is on the rise due to lack of anti-venoms,” he added.

There were 12 IDPs bitten by snakes in Kanbalu Township in April and May, and there were 11 snakebite victims within the first 20 days of this month.

Sagaing Region’s status as a hotbed of conflict between Myanmar’s military regime and anti-junta forces has added to the problem.

“IDPs are often bitten by snakes while hiding [from conflict] in the forests. We are struggling to make ends meet amid various hardships,” said an IDP man from the Koehtaungboh displacement camp.

There are more than 30,000 people at eight displacement camps in Kanbalu Township and more than 80 people have been bitten by snakes while fleeing fighting during the two-plus years since Myanmar’s coup, according to data compiled by Kyunhla-Kanbalu Activists Group.