Decades of frontline experience working in under-resourced regions in India have given Dr. Yogesh Jain a clear view of what works and what fails in primary healthcare. As a founder of Jan Swasthya Sahyog and judge for the Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize, Yogesh brings a grounded, systems-level perspective to the prize.

We spoke with him about shifting focus from technology to community-based delivery and the types of solutions he hopes will be entered into the prize.

We know that in under-resourced areas, like the ones I have worked in, outcomes for snakebite envenomation patients have not really changed over the last 25 or 30 years. Meaningful progress will require well-functioning public health systems in which continuity of care is ensured and emergency care can be provided within a reasonable time. What is needed is not only quality healthcare but also efficient systems, which is a great challenge in poor parts of the world. From a supply perspective, these public health systems need to be both functional and well-resourced, and also engage the community.

Ensuring community access to healthcare systems is key, and it goes beyond just health infrastructure. People working on solutions need to consider things like roads and transport vehicles to improve access to care, before even considering developing improved antivenoms. What people require first is a well-functioning public health system that guarantees timely, high-quality care for patients.

In my experience, when people find an innovation truly useful, when it truly lowers their expenses or delivers a real resolution to a problem they face, they will take it on. A good solution doesn’t require much advertisement or a push from the systems level. When a solution is well designed to work with people and respond to their needs, that's when it earns genuine community buy-in.

Sadly, primary healthcare is littered with examples of misplaced enthusiasm from the supply side, who have neither included the major stakeholders in the production process nor sought their perspectives on the effectiveness or feasibility of their innovations.

Keeping the time from bite to care under one hour is my North Star. Whatever we try to innovate in terms of health systems or community engagement, the primary success metric should be to ensure someone reaches a functioning health system within one hour of the bite.

From my perspective, we need solutions that allow non-physician health workers at the community level to administer antivenom and emergency measures.

Secondly, innovators should focus on optimising the mapping and logistics around drug (antivenom) stocks so that they can reach people within an hour.

Thirdly, a robust community mentoring system or a dedicated helpline is needed. These are needed to educate the community and care providers about the best technical decision for a particular snakebite case and to ensure the correct decision is made at the community level.

I hope the prize will help dispel the notion that snakebite envenoming is an unsolvable and forever neglected problem in primary healthcare. I want to see solutions that work and can be delivered at scale, translating into better outcomes for people affected by snakebites. As someone from a country that contributes to the maximum number of snakebite deaths in the world, the prize’s potential to find solutions is music to my soul.

This is the first prize I have seen that specifically looks at effective community-based interventions rather than just technology. The word 'innovation' is usually conflated with technology, specifically diagnostic or therapeutic technologies, which are only the instruments. For me, this prize model really highlights how innovative delivery of community-based interventions can save lives.

I’m excited to see any types of solutions that are viable to addressing snakebite envenoming.

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Throughout our conversation with Yogesh, it is clear that technology alone cannot solve the snakebite crisis without strong, well-functioning community health systems. From empowering non-physician health workers to administer antivenom, to establishing dedicated community helplines and optimising drug distribution, Yogesh emphasises that real impact lies in ensuring access. As a judge, he hopes to see entries that focus on accessible design and community-driven solutions to ensure a snakebite patient reaches a functioning health facility within one hour.

If you have a solution that can strengthen primary healthcare systems and help reduce the bite-to-care window, we encourage you to enter the prize by 16 September 2026.