According to Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), climate change is aggravating the problem by modifying ecological patterns and exposing new communities to venomous species.

This, he said, calls for a coordinated and sustained regional response, based on the One Health approach, and stressed the need for collaboration between the human, animal and environmental health sectors.

From snake bites and scorpion stings to encounters with poisonous spiders and caterpillars, these incidents claim hundreds of lives each year and leave thousands of survivors with permanent disabilities, particularly affecting rural and indigenous communities.

More than 57,000 cases of snakebites are reported annually in Latin America and the Caribbean, although the actual number is likely higher due to underreporting in remote areas with limited access to health services.

abo/jav/mem/lpn