“Minutes to Die: Snakebite – The World’s Ignored Health Crisis“, is a documentary produced by the Lillian Lincoln Foundation, directed and written by James Reid and narrated by Mike Rowe which seeks to raise awareness on the snakebite crisis plaguing the rural poor in some areas of the world. The documentary also highlights the work done by the University of Costa Rica’s Clodomiro Picado Institute (UCR-ICP) in the production of antivenoms.

Every year 2.6 million cases of snakebites by venomous snakes are reported worldwide, in Costa Rica there are reports of an average 600 people affected every year, out of these, only 3 die, but worldwide over 125 thousand lives are lost and some 400 thousand people will suffer the consequences of the venom for the rest of their lives sometimes with amputations or a disfigured limb.

The documentary gives credit to the work done at the ICP, which for the past 50 years has dedicated to save the lives of victims of snakebites in Costa Rica as well as other 14 countries with social vulnerabilities. ICP-UCR produces high-quality antivenoms which are used in different regions of Latin America, Africa, Oceania and Sri Lanka.

“Antivenom is currently the only effective treatment for snakebites. Bite victims in the United States and Australia are fortunate to have access to good quality serums and comparatively exceptional care. Central and South America may have high bite cases, but commitments from public antivenom manufacturers and government health ministries have kept antivenom stocks high and death tolls in check”, explains the documentary website, which continues to explain how this is not the case in other areas of the world: “ The antivenom crisis…rampant in Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Southeast Asia. The success of the antivenom supply chain calls for products to be safe, affordable and effective. In these regions, rarely are all three of these boxes ever checked. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from overpriced antivenoms with costs out of reach of victims. Governments and health ministers in snakebite-endemic countries consider antivenom a low priority, opting to purchase low cost drugs for other diseases. (…) Antivenoms produced in India infiltrate the African market – they’re cheap and attractive, but considered ineffective and of poor quality”.

In particular, the film highlights the work of Dr. Jose Maria Gutierrez as one of the “changemakers” in this health crisis that he World Health Organization added to its list of Neglected Tropical Diseases : “Since 1977, Gutiérrez has worked as a researcher at Instituto Clodomiro Picado at the University of Costa Rica, an institution devoted to the study of snakes, venoms and antivenoms, and to the search for solutions to alleviate the problem of snakebite envenoming worldwide. As a researcher at Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Gutiérrez has been involved in the development of new antivenoms for sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. He has investigated the biochemistry of snake venoms, the mechanism of action of snake venoms and toxins, particularly those causing acute tissue damage. He has also studied the preclinical efficacy of antivenoms from different sources, especially from Latin America, and has collaborated with many colleagues in Costa Rica and abroad in these research projects. One of his goals has been to link scientific and technological research to the improvement of prevention and management of snakebite envenomings, having being involved in community work and training of health staff”.