Therefore, an antivenom prepared against a snake speciesfrom a particular geographical area may have little or no neutralizing efficacy in another region, due to the antigenic variability of venoms from different species. The scarcity of antivenoms in some regions of the world has been a reason for concern for decades. It led in 2009 to the classification of snakebite by the World Health Organization WHO in the category of neglected tropical diseases.
La escasez de antivenenos en algunas regiones del mundo ha sido motivo de preocupación durante décadas, y llevó a la Organización Mundial de la Salud OMS/WHO a clasificar el envenenamiento ofídico en la categoría de las patologías tropicales desatendidas neglected tropical diseases, en 2009.