Medical charity Doctors Without Borders says the world will run out of one of the most effective treatments for snakebites next year, putting the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk, mostly in developing countries.



The aid group, also known by its French acronym MSF, has said that existing stockpiles of the anti-venom Fav-Afrique, produced by Sanofi Pasteur, will expire in June. The company stopped producing the anti-venom last year and has since switched to making a rabies treatment instead.

“We are now facing a real crisis,” Dr Gabriel Alcoba, the charity’s snakebite adviser, said in a statement. The charity said it was unlikely there would be an alternative to replace Sanofi Pasteur for at least two years.



A spokesman for Sanofi Pasteur said the pharmaceuticals company was driven out of the market by competitors selling cheaper products, and it announced in 2010 it would stop making anti-venom. Cheaper drugs are often seen as less effective.



“It’s very strange that the relevant stakeholders are only realising this problem five years later,” said Sanofi Pasteur spokesman Alain Bernal. He said the company had offered to transfer the anti-venom technology to others.

About 5 million people are bitten by snakes every year, of whom 100,000 die and several hundred thousand others suffer amputations or other disabilities.



When available, the anti-venom treatment costs $250-$500 (£163-£326). In poor countries, the drugs are bought and supplied by donors and aid groups.



Before a meeting this week in Switzerland, MSF called for international agencies to ensure that snakebite treatment is available where needed. MSF said the World Health Organisation should play a leading role in solving the problem.



WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had a staffer working on the snakebite problem but donors had been largely uninterested. He said the lack of snakebite treatment was also due to doctors deciding not to use anti-venoms because they were made from the wrong snake.

