Use case 2: Identifying current stakeholders to reduce snakebite mortality and morbidity in India

Creating a data ecosystem map can be used to identify potential users and communities who might benefit from the creation of new partnerships and data provision. This use case illustrates how data ecosystem mapping was used to map snakebite management in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The end goal was to inform healthcare planning and to optimise distribution of resources for prevention and treatment.

The researchers started with the premise that addressing a snakebite health problem requires an interdisciplinary approach. They captured the following elements in the map below (Figure 4):

• existing flows of healthcare data

• data about the climate, ecology and urbanisation

• use of predictive data tools

• potential data flows to address snakebite mortality and morbidity

• potential value flows to the healthcare and research communities

• the data and value flows underpinning antivenom distribution.

Figure 4: Ecosystem map for preventing snakebite mortality and morbidity in Tamil Nadu, India

By drawing the map, they were able to understand the complexity of the snakebite process and the human, snake and environmental interactions.

They then focused on introducing preventive interventions and understanding what support and services would be needed, including:

• community outreach programmes to educate people

• more accurate local estimates of the risk of snakebite using data being collected

• public health officials who are in charge of preparing an annual request for antivenom in a healthcare facility being able to order the right quantity of antivenom

• non-governmental organisation leaders who are focused on prevention activities, eg community outreach programmes to educate the population, being able to prioritise the villages most at risk for public awareness campaigns in their organisation’s yearly operational plan

• health policymakers being able to incorporate into their multi-year strategic planning insights around how climate change, urbanisation and migration are predicted to affect the risk of snakebite envenoming and corresponding resource requirements in the region.

The insights drawn from the snakebite map and the visualisation of the unmet need of antivenom treatment is an example of how ecosystem mapping can inform the planning of healthcare service allocation or prevention efforts.