Launch of Insurance Schemes for Snake bite victims by Prof.Sakthivel Vaiyapuri, University of Reading,UK & Star Health Insurance

• Health insurance schemes with very low premium for snakebite victims to aid their treatment costs: these schemes will be highly beneficial for poor people who live in rural areas - emphasised by snakebite researchers and insurance providers....

Chennai: Snakebite victims can seek treatment worth up to Rs 1 lakh through a special insurance scheme just by paying an annual insurance premium of Rs 472. This scheme can also be used for any other accident-related treatments - emphasised by a snakebite scientist and leading health insurance provider.

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During the Reporters meet today, Professor Sakthivel Vaiyapuri, a well-known scientist in the field of snakebite envenomation from the University of Reading, UK said: We have been researching on various aspects of snakebite envenomation over the last 18 years. Snakebite is a major health issue in developing countries, specifically India. A recent research article has reported around 58,000 deaths annually in India due to snakebite envenomation.

(L to R) Professor Sakthivel Vaiyapuri, Professor in Cardiovascular & Venom Pharmacology, University of Reading, UK; Dr S Prakash, Managing Director, Star Health Insurance

However, in our research, we estimated that in Tamil Nadu alone, up to 10,000 deaths arel likely to occur each year due to venomous snakebites. Notably, snakebites affect around 5 million people worldwide every year, resulting in around 150,000 deaths and 500,000 permanent disabilities.

Snakebites mainly affect rural village people, particularly poor agricultural workers. Despite its nationwide/worldwide impact, public awareness about venomous snakebites is poor. Hence, we have been performing a large multifaceted snakebite public awareness programme (Venomous Snakebites: Rapid Action Saves Lives) over the last 4 years to educate rural people about appropriate first aid and treatment methods for snakebites.

Through numerous educational institutions, hospitals (specifically, Manian Medical Centre, Erode and TCR Multispeciality Hospital, Krishnagiri), public places, media and social media, so far, we have educated around 7 crore people. These activities were largely supported by people and indeed, they made remarkable changes in increasing snakebite awareness among villagers and for snakebite victims to arrive at the hospitals within 4 hours.

Snakebite victims often need to pay up to Rs 1 lakh in private hospitals in order to receive appropriate treatment. Although Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance scheme covers snakebite treatment, only limited, eligible people can benefit from this scheme. Therefore, a large number of people have to pay for their treatment themselves.

While many insurance agencies do not provide treatment cover for snakebites, Star Health Insurance provides several insurance schemes that offer treatment for snakebites. These schemes would be highly beneficial for poor agricultural farmers to receive prompt hospital treatment following snakebites. However, most people are not aware of these insurance schemes. Therefore, we are creating awareness about these policies. Through creating essential awareness about these schemes, we can enable many people to benefit without a significant economic impact as a result of snakebites.

While it is critical to prevent or decrease the number of snakebites, it is equally important to reduce the socioeconomic impacts caused by snakebites. Because the socioeconomic impacts may completely alter the livelihood of victims and their family members.

Dr S Prakash, the Managing Director of Star Health Insurance said that with a very low insurance premium i.e. Rs 472 per annum, snakebite victims could obtain treatments worth for Rs 1 Lakh through 'Accident Trauma Care Insurance Policy'. Moreover, snakebite victims can go to any nearest hospital promptly (within the golden hours) to seek appropriate treatment. Notably, this scheme will also cover other accident-related treatments.

In addition, Star Health Insurance offers 'Arogya Sanjeevani' and 'Micro Rural & Farmers Care' policies specifically for rural people. We will provide all the support for snakebite victims to seek appropriate treatment through these schemes. All these schemes will also cover for other relevant treatments.

We are primarily creating awareness about these schemes to protect lives from venomous snakebites. We kindly request everyone who is aware of these schemes to disseminate this information to others to create a mass awareness.

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