Health Action International (HAI) and the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign invited community-based snakebite experts across the global south to participate in a two day virtual meeting in July 2021 to discuss community engagement in snakebite prevention and treatment. The meeting collected their viewpoints, experiences, and best practices as a means of helping to design and implement future community engagement approaches. The meeting also explored collective interest in creating a permanent platform to represent the voices of community experts to improve collaboration and coordination among the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) on snakebite issues.
The report is intended to serve as an introduction to, and recommendations for, rolling out community-based activities and interventions from the perspective of snakebite community experts. It is particularly relevant to health policy makers in snakebite endemic countries, health officials of provinces and districts, leaders of NGOs and CSOs as they plan for interventions at the community level. Primary targets are communities themselves, reflecting on the priorities, synergies and needs of fellow community experts.