Snakebites have been declared the 'world's biggest hidden health crisis'

The World Health Organisation has deemed snake bites "arguably the world's biggest hidden health crisis" with one person dying from a bite every four minutes.

Venomous bites kill up to 138,000 people a year while 400,000 of the 5.4million people who suffer bites around the world each year are left with life-changing injuries such as paralysis or amputations.

WHO say the number is an upper-estimate because as bites aren't recorded effectively in their most common countries.

London-based charity, The Wellcome Trust, has launched a multi-million-pound fund to improve treatment and research for venomous snakebites.

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