Saw-scaled vipers, found in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, account for the highest number of snakebite deaths in the world.

Antivenoms produced to treat these snake bites are ineffective if made using snake venom from adifferent region, researchers from the University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences havefound.

Associate Professor Dr Bryan Fry said this has led to avoidable deaths.

??????African hospitals have been buying Indian antivenom because it's cheap. In areas in Africa where theyhave switched antivenom, this has led to a 20-fold increase in deaths, people have died who wouldhave otherwise survived.''

??????The Indian manufacturers have never validated that their antivenom works on African snakebites.They're selling it with no evidence to show that it works. In my mind it's murder,'' Dr Fry said.

It is estimated that snake bites account for 100,000 deaths globally each year which Dr Fry said could bean underestimation due to missing records.

Dr Fry said this is a catastrophic issue that needs to be looked at and is too big to ignore.

??????To put it into perspective, one or two people die a year in Australia from snake bites, every twominutes somebody dies in India alone from a snakebite.''

Through this study, Dr Fry and his team hope to save lives and raise the awareness of this issue in theWestern world.

??????One thing we really want to do is use this as a poster child for raising the awareness of snakebites andshow how Western societies can help this issue through aid groups and funding.''