BANGKOK -- Snake bites kill hundreds of people every year in Myanmar and leave thousands more with lifelong disabilities. Many could be saved if anti-venom treatments could be delivered faster, especially in rural areas, say experts. But decades of decline in the country's vital health infrastructure must first be reversed.
The scale of the problem reflects the shape of Myanmar's economy, in which agriculture, especially rice production, accounts for 40% of national output. About 60% of the nation's 55 million people are economically dependent on farming. But paddy fields and rice stacks draw rats and mice, luring dangerous snakes such as Russell's vipers and cobras into close contact with humans.
