A Community Engagement Approach to Snakebite Prevention in Rural Uganda: Exploring Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices

Snakebite envenoming is classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease and causes mortality, morbidity, and economic impacts for hundreds of thousands of people per year, particu-larly in tropical, low- and middle-income countries. Most research on snakebite interven-tions focuses on improving clinical management rather than bite prevention. However, prevention may provide a better mechanism to minimise snakebite impacts, particularly in rural areas where access to effective medical treatment is limited. This study reports on the preliminary testing phase of a participatory workshop intervention run in rural Uganda in 2022–23, which used a community engagement approach designed to reduce snakebites through discussing snake behaviour and biology. A mixed methods survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted, both with workshop attendees and non-attendees, after the delivery of the workshops. We found that a fearful attitude toward snakes often led to human–snake conflict, with snake killings occurring commonly, and some bites occurring during attempted killings. Workshops appeared to challenge nega-tive attitudes, as understanding snake behaviour seemed to build compassion toward snakes and therefore has the potential to reduce human–snake conflict. Those who at-tended workshops were more likely to suggest ‘giving snakes space,’ rather than attempt-ing to kill them, and were more likely to suggest hospital treatment if bitten. We also found that many effective methods for snakebite prevention are already known to the community, but those who attended the workshop were aware of a wider range of pre-vention methods and were more likely to implement less ecologically damaging and more effective strategies. This emphasises that appropriate knowledge resides within the com-munity to prevent snakebites, and so community engagement approaches can improve prevention practices while recognising that the ownership and knowledge for such changes is generated by the local people themselves.