Snake bite management is this doctor’s mission

Dayal Bandhu Majumdar, an eye surgeon, has conducted several workshops for doctors on ways to treat patients with snake bites

Dayal Bandhu Majumdar calls himself a snake bite fanatic. Although the 51-year- old doctor, an eye surgeon(medical officer) by training at Chittaranjan National Medical College, does not need to deal with patients with snake bite on daily basis. But despite having no connection with this stream, Dr Majumdar is on a mission to make other doctors and health practicioners learn snake bite management– something most medical practioners neglect.

Dr Majumdar says that in a year thousands of people in West Bengal die of snake bite. He has developed audio visual tool which he has circulated among over 400 people including doctors and locals to help them identify a snake bite, take necessary precautions and give proper medication. He has taken initiative and organised workshops in various districts of the state making doctors learn how to treat patients with snake bites. “Snake bite is essentially a rural phenomenon and people in the urban areas are not concerned about the problem and so are the doctors,” says Dr Majumdar. According to him in a regular medicine course not even a single class is given to students in medicine programme although it is part of the curriculum. Since most of the doctors in urban health centers do not have to deal with patients, they are not bothered and doctors in rural areas are always in a hurry to refer patients to urban areas. According to Dr Majumdar, the reason for so many deaths is administrative apathy— the administration does not consider snake bite deaths as a problem which can be managed.