Why Antivenom Is Not the Solution: An analysis of causes of mortality among Myanmar’s snakebite victims and the implications for public health policy

This research contrasts quantitative mortality rates and intermediating contributory factors experienced by snakebite victims in Myanmar versus Thailand. Afterward, using a qualitative narrative approach, the author explores decolonial leadership and management challenges unique to the Myanmar context in the current decade. Findings underscore the impact of weakened post-colonial infrastructure, outdated management strategies, and embryonic public health leadership proficiencies in Myanmar—as opposed to deficits in understanding epidemiology, pharmacology, or biostatistics, with which Myanmar is relatively robust. Finally, the research unpacks the origins of the most acute causal factors of snakebite mortality in Myanmar and offers policy recommendations to support decolonising leadership, training, and national development in pursuit of mitigating the unnecessarily high snakebite mortality rate in Myanmar.