Type of help
Education
Medical Care
Project partners
Meserani Snake Park Clinic
“Pflaster für Tansania e.V.”
STELP is helping since
2022
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 138,000 people die each year due to the consequences of snakebites. Most of the victims of snakebites are poor individuals from rural areas, including farmers, herders, fishermen, hunters, and children. Often, the administration of antivenom, a specifically developed immune serum for the treatment of snakebite injuries, could save lives. However, in rural regions of Tanzania, for example, there are limited hospitals and doctors, and the antidote is expensive and often not available in many healthcare facilities.
Together with “Pflaster für Tansania e.V.”, we support the Meserani Snake Park Clinic in northern Tanzania. This specialized hospital, affiliated with the Meserani Snake Park, focuses on the treatment of snakebite cases. Around 150 adults and children are treated annually at the Meserani Snake Park Clinic. A patient may require up to ten vials of antivenom, which can result in a treatment cost exceeding 1,500 euros. Indeed, financing and paying for such treatment would be impossible for the Maasai community themselves, considering their average monthly income of 45 US dollars.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the clinic’s biggest source of income – donations from tourists who visit the snake park – has been lost. Together with “Pflaster für Tansania e.V.”, we are now taking on the costs for the urgently needed antivenoms and ensuring that patients continue to receive the life-saving immune serums free of charge. We are also supporting the clinic with the purchase of an intensive care bed and contributing to the salary of a doctor who will start work at the clinic in early 2024. The targeted use of the antivenom remains a challenge. We are therefore also contributing to the costs of a diagnostic device for snake bites.
Our partners in Tanzania:
You can find more news about our project in Duka Bovu | Tanzania here.
