Lack of reliable data hinders PNG’s response to snakebite emergency

Fifty-one years after gaining independence, Papua New Guinea continues to face a critical shortage of reliable snakebite data, leaving health authorities to fight what experts call a silent crisis across rural provinces.

Snakebites remain a constant, life-threatening emergency across remote districts, yet the true scale of the medical emergency remains unknown due to chronic underreporting.

Andrew Maru, a Clinical Educator with the PNG Snakebite Partnership Project, managed by St John Ambulance, said the absence of concrete figures makes tracking and responding to snakebites exceptionally difficult.

"Globally, more than five million people are bitten by snakes each year, with between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths," Maru told NBC News.

"In PNG, we still don't have proper data on snakebites to this day. If someone dies of a snakebite in a remote area, it is rarely reported. Snakebite is a silent crisis around the world, and in PNG, it is also a silent crisis."

Maru said the PNG Snakebite Partnership Project was established specifically to help measure and reduce the country's snakebite burden, but urged the public to take immediate safety precautions.

"Snakes have been here long ago, they are here today, and they will be here tomorrow," Maru said.

His warning comes as health organizations raise public awareness ahead of International Snakebite Awareness Day on September 19.