Sri Lanka is a tropical developing island nation that endures significant economic and medical burden as a result of
snakebite envenomation, having not only a high prevalence of envenomations, but also one of the highest incidence rates (200
snakebites/100,000 people/year) of venomous
snakebite in the world (Kasturiratne et al., 2005). Ironically, the very snakes responsible for this human morbidity and mortality are a valuable biomedical and ecological national resource, despite the medical and economic consequences of envenomation. Currently, no snake
antivenom is produced using
venoms from native Sri Lankan snakes as immunogens, and there is a true need for an efficacious Sri Lanka, poly-specific snake
antivenom. An approach to fulfilling this need via combining the scientific, technological and economical resources from Costa Rica and the United States with the knowledge and talent of Sri Lankan official governmental agencies, legal counsels, environmental, medical and veterinary academic institutions, and religious and cultural leaders has been initiated, coordinated and funded by Animal
Venom Research International (AVRI), a nonprofit charity. This bridging of nations and the cooperative pooling of their resources represents a potential avenue for
antivenom development in a developing country that suffers the consequences of few specific resources for the medical management of venomous
snakebite. The desired final outcome of such an endeavor for Sri Lanka is, most importantly, improved medical outcomes for
snakebite patients, with enhanced and expanded science and technology relating to
snake venoms and
antivenoms, and the collateral benefits of reduced economic cost for the country.