Members of the Asclepius Snakebite Foundation will be returning to Kindia, Guinea to continue to support our Guinean partners who operate a small, dedicated snakebite clinic. We continue to work towards a multiyear goal of opening an expanded snakebite clinic to serve the region for many years to come.
We will bring much needed medical supplies and antivenom. We will also continue the training of the local providers that treat patients in the clinic year round, while while assisting in the treatment of snakebite victims.
Our current clinic is located in Kindia, Guinea and treats about 500 snakebite patients a year. This region has limited access to effective snakebite treatment and many patients have poor outcomes due to long delays in appropriate care. They usually seek treatments from local healers first and then often have to travel many hours by motorbike once those do not work. Most patients are farmers who are bitten while working in their fields and their loss has a major impact upon their families as they are often unable to return to work.
We hope to expand our capabilities to treat snakebite patients more effectively. We also hope to continue to breakdown barriers to snakebite care in the region through continued community outreach and education. We are working to establish more partnerships in other African countries with similar barriers to snakebite treatment and hope to continue to use the lessons learned in Guinea to facilitate these new partnerships.
The Asclepius Snakebite Foundation Clinic in Kindia, Guinea opened! There was a wonderful grand opening event attended by members of the community and government. The clinic's primary goal is to improve outcomes of snakebite patients, but it also serves an important function as a general medical clinic for the community, often treating tropical diseases such as malaria. The clinic is one of the only medical centers in the country with antivenom and it serves the local community, as well as patients from all over the surrounding regions. We hope the clinic can serve as an educational center to help train other physicians and improve outcomes in snakebite worldwide.
