To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the response by Lord Bates on 3 April (HL Deb, cols 930–1) concerning neglected tropical diseases, how they are responding to Africa’s need for anti-venoms to treat snake bites, following the cessation of production by the major manufacturer.
Answered on
20 April 2017
The UK Government is currently supporting the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, funded by Medical Research Council and DFID, to develop a new 'universal antivenom' to treat victims of any of the most venomous snakes that threaten human health in sub-Saharan Africa.
DFID launched a call for expressions of interest for the development of new technologies on 30 March. This call highlights that DFID is particularly interested in a number of areas, including innovative technologies to improve health outcomes for the poorest living in low and middle income countries which are currently neglected by the global research and development community, such as new anti-venoms to treat snake bite.