Resume
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease affecting rural households in Kenya. The Ministry of Health records some 19,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths a year, and community surveys find 411 cases per 100,000 people annually in Baringo County, eleven times the national rate. Prevention and first response are largely absent at community level. Dansk Zoologisk Selskab and the African Wildlife Protection Fund (AWPF) will strengthen the capacity of AWPF and of communities in Baringo and Kwale counties to prevent snakebites and respond correctly when they occur, and connect that capacity to the county health system. Trained local resource persons give communities someone competent to call. Joint action plans with county authorities document where antivenom is actually available. Households gain the means to avoid bites and to reach treatment in time, which is the strongest determinant of survival.