In yet another example of the ongoing cooperation in healthcare provision between the two islands, Dr. Dabor Resiere, Deputy Head of the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of Martinique (La Meynard), and President of the Caribbean Doctors Association, will present a protocol to health professionals on the treatment of snakebites.

The presentation will be made on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Auberge Seraphine at 11 a.m. He will be joined by Dr. Christine Nathaniel, who will outline the situation in Saint Lucia.

Under the auspices of the Saint Lucia National Trust, and in collaboration with Victoria and Tapion hospitals, as well as the Caribbean Doctors Association, the protocol will present the latest developments based on anti-venom research conducted by Dr. Resiere and Professor José Maria Gutierrez of the Institute of Microbiology at the University of Costa Rica, between March and October 2018, on the fer-de-lance snakes unique to Martinique and Saint Lucia. This will complement the public information currently undertaken by the National Trust. Their work has been published in the journal PLOS (Public Library of Science).

Dr. Resiere will also take the opportunity to discuss his research on the health hazards posed by the Sargassum weed – he has been appointed to head that research in the French Antilles, and has invited Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Health to avail itself of his expertise. His work has been published in the Lancet medical journal.

Since the declaration of snakebites as a neglected tropical disease by the WTO in 2017, there has been international conferences on snakebites in French Guyana, (at which Drs. Didier and Resiere presented on fer-de-lances in Saint Lucia and Martinique) and in Geneva, at which Dr. Resiere presented the recently signed Memorandum of Agreement between the Caribbean Doctors Association and Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture (on behalf of the Forestry Division).

The next WTO conference on snakebite will be held in Guadeloupe this year.

Another highlight of the day’s activity will be the official opening of a 3-bed ICU at Tapion, at which Dr. Resiere will be the guest of honour, in recognition of his personal contribution, as well as the support of the University Hospital of Martinique (La Meynard) in critical care delivery, to healthcare provision in Saint Lucia.