India is burdened by the highest number of snake envenomation across the globe, giving India the name ‘Snakebite capital of the world’, with over 58,000 fatalities and 3 times the number of morbidities, predominantly affecting the rural agricultural communities.
Human-wildlife conflict (HWC), is a growing worldwide issue, where interactions between people and the wild lead to negative consequences. HWC is usually caused by competition over resources such as food, space, shelter and safety, which leads to negative consequences on both sides, like injuries, death or even economic losses for humans, which in turn turns into retaliation or habitat loss for wildlife. One of the most overlooked but deeply rooted conflicts is the Snake–Human conflict. It’s not just about snakes biting people, though that is definitely a big part of it, but it’s also about how landscapes are rapidly changing, how people perceive risk and how people respond to fear. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 5.4 million snake bite cases and 1.8-2.7 million envenomation cases throughout the world each year, with 81,410-137,880 fatalities and roughly 3 times as many people experiencing permanent disfigurement and/or disabilities, including limb amputations.
Snakebite is a serious public health issue in India, particularly affecting the rural and agricultural communities, where people are in close contact with snake habitats. Snakebite is an occupational hazard that affects agricultural workers and farmers. The majority of the victims are farmers, who not only face the immediate consequences of snakebites like death or disability but often suffer long-term physical impairments like mobility and functional difficulties.
When the breadwinner of a family is bitten by a venomous snake, families face heavy socioeconomic burdens, forcing spouses or children to take up their place at work. Most victims are mentally unprepared to encounter a snake ever again, even years after the event, and this leads to mental distress, stress and often retaliation, which only worsens conflict. This kind of trauma also leaves a lasting psychological effect. Survivors often develop deep-rooted fear and anxiety towards snakes, which persists for years and soon turns into a deep-rooted hatred that influences community attitudes, feeding into the long cycle of snake-human conflict.
There is an urgent need for innovative and sustainable solutions to address the burden of snakebite, and the Global Snakebite Initiative (GSI) and the Evolutionary Venomics Lab (IISc) came up with Nagathon, an innovation challenge designed to generate impactful solutions for reducing human-snake conflict in India. Nagathon brings together undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines, including public health, education, policy, law, behavioural sciences, technology, and conservation, to develop practical and scalable solutions to snakebite-related challenges. The initiative focuses on three key themes: improving clinical outcomes, strengthening advocacy and outreach, and integrating snakebite prevention and management into existing systems. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, mentorship from experts in snakebite research and public health, and a strong emphasis on locally relevant solutions, Nagathon pursues to empower the next generation of leaders to contribute towards the global goal of reducing snakebite mortality and morbidity while fostering greater awareness, coexistence, and resilience in vulnerable communities.