Saint Lucia’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will soon feature snake bite management, an announcement welcomed by the head of a Morne Panache, Dennery group.
“This new service will help ensure that anyone who needs treatment for snake bites can access critical care at no cost through the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs. Your safety and health are our priority,” a Ministry release stated.
The release advised citizens to stay tuned for more updates on how “this important service will benefit our communities.”
The Morne Panache Development Committee Chairperson, Winny Wilfred, has welcomed the UHC snake bite plan.
Wilfred recalled that a fer de lance bit a resident last year, and there were several sightings of the venomous reptiles, the latest occurring in November last year in a residential yard.
The snake almost bit the resident.
“We have experienced snake bites, and it is something that we are still afraid of,” Wilfred told St. Lucia Times.
However, while welcoming the UHC initiative, the Morne Panache Development Committee Chairperson underscored the need for continuing education on handling snake bites, differentiating the fer de lance from the non-venomous Saint Lucia boa, and what to do in an encounter.
Wilfred told St. Lucia Times that Morne Panache residents have received briefings from Forestry Department officials.
Last year, Morne Panache residents organised three community cleanups after the resident sustained a snake bite.
“Since the bite occurred on the main road, one of the issues we identified was the overgrown bush, because what it does now is since the farmers are no longer cultivating bananas, there are a lot of abandoned places and overgrown bush,” Wilfred said.
“It was to create visibility, so if in case there is a snake there at least we would be able to see it and it would not take us by surprise,” she explained.
Saint Lucia has four indigenous snake species.
They are the Saint Lucia boa, the Saint Lucia racer on Maria Major, the Saint Lucia thread snake, and the fer de lance.
The Saint Lucia fer de lance, found nowhere else in the world, is the only venomous one.
Reports indicate that snake bite numbers are not high for Saint Lucia, which records five or six snake bites yearly in places including Anse La Raye-Canaries, Dennery, and Praslin.
