Dr Nicholas Amani, the Medical Director of the Snakebite Hospital and Research Centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, says anti-snake venom is not only a scarce commodity in Nigeria but also in many parts of the world.
Amani stated this during an interview with The Punch, while reacting to the death of fast-rising singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, who died in Abuja on Saturday after a snake bite at her apartment. She passed away after two hospitals she was rushed to turned her back over the unavailability of anti-snake venom.
Speaking on the challenge of snakebite management in Nigeria and globally, Amani said:
“The truth is that anti-snake venom is a scarce commodity all around the world. The reason is that snake bite mainly affects the less privileged, farmers, and rural dwellers — people who do not really have a voice.
“Everywhere we attend conferences and international meetings, it is the same issue, scarcity, scarcity. Ultimately, there are no free anti-snake venoms available. Most of them are now being sold by pharmacy vendors.”
Amani noted that despite renewed attention to snakebite as a major public health challenge, even specialised hospitals currently lack adequate supplies of anti-snake venom.
“I want to make it very clear that even in specialised hospitals, we do not actually have anti-snake venom in our facilities currently. Efforts are being made by the government to make provision because this has now resurfaced as a major health challenge, but the process is still in the pipeline,” he explained.
Using Kaltungo as an example, the medical director said patients are often forced to source the life-saving drug from private vendors.
“Even in Kaltungo, what you find is that it is pharmacists and business people in town who are supplying the anti-venom. Patients have to go and buy from them. So the issue of scarcity is real” Amani said.
