Anti-Snake bite venom not out of stock in the country- Prof. Adewale

The Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole has debunked media reports making the round that the Federal government has ran out of stock of the anti-snake venom for the treatment of snake bite victims.

Proff Adewale who was reacting to the report of the death of 91 people as a result of snake bite in Gombe and Plateau State within three weeks said that the Ministry still has some vials of Anti-snake venom stocked in the Federal Ministry of Health, from the 2016 procurement from which States and other treatment centres were issued upon request.

In a statement issued by the Director, Media and Public Relations, Mrs. Boade Akinola, the Minister stated that the States in question, have refused to comply with the new procedure of request, which according to him has become difficult for the States to access the product from the ministry.
According to the statement, 5 states have so far made request and have been issued for the treatment of victims in the last four months, the last which was in September 6, 2017.

Prof. Adewole however expressed some apprehension that 2017 procurement may have some hitches because the funding was mistakenly transfer to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
He also called on the snake bite prevalent states to invest in procurement of anti-snake venom for their people.

He warned that Federal Government cannot continue to procure and distribute free to states indefinitely as being currently practiced.
“The Federal Government is however working on Public Private Partnership arrangement for local production of anti-snake bite venom which will make the product available affordable and accessible”, the Minister said.

It could be recalled that a tally given by three medical centres revealed that at least two hundred and fifty people were reported to have died of snake bite in the last three weeks in Plateau and Gombe States.

According to reports, the usually preventable deaths followed an acute scarcity of snake anti-venom drugs in the country.
The figure represents the number of confirmed deaths from three snake treatment centres – General Hospital, Kaltungo, Ali Mega Pharmacy, Gombe and Comprehensive Medical Centre, Zamko, Plateau State.
 

Francesca Iwambe, Abuja