19/01/2026
National Stakeholder Workshop on SARPA Project
On 16 January 2026, the Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU), Vani, in collaboration with the Public Health Department, Government of Maharashtra, and the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, organised a National Stakeholder Workshop at Nashik, Maharashtra on the co-development of implementation strategies under the ICMR Centre for Advanced Research (CAR) Project SARPA – Zero Snakebite Death Initiative. The workshop focused on community empowerment and engagement to mitigate snakebite envenoming.
The workshop brought together investigators from seven implementing states, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Maharashtra, along with officials from the Public Health Department, Nashik Division, National snakebite experts, clinicians, public health professionals, faculty from Medicine, Intensive Care, and Community Medicine departments of Government Medical College, Nashik, medical officers, representatives from the Tribal and Forest Departments, tribal residential schools, snake rescuers, herpetologists, and community stakeholders.
Using a co-development approach, participants engaged in shared learning and collective decision-making to develop context-specific, community-driven, and evidence-based strategies for snakebite prevention and control.
A total of 50 participants attended the workshop. Based on expert deliberations, implementation strategies were finalised for rolling out the SARPA project in two blocks, Dindori and Surgana, of Nashik district, Maharashtra.
