Scarcity of anti-snake venom
Reports last week of scarcity of anti-snake venom in the country at a time when snake bites are most common made many Nigerians anxious and fearful. Nandul Durfa, Managing Director of Echitab Study Ltd Guarantee, the outfit solely in charge of collecting and distributing anti-snake venom in the country, said “less than 200 vales of […]
Reports last week of scarcity of anti-snake venom in the country at a time when snake bites are most common made many Nigerians anxious and fearful. Nandul Durfa, Managing Director of Echitab Study Ltd Guarantee, the outfit solely in charge of collecting and distributing anti-snake venom in the country, said “less than 200 vales of anti-snake venom (ASV) are left for the whole country.”
He said, “We have very few vales left. Our ASV supply is depleted. What we have is less than 200. We are expecting the next supply of 2,000 vales from Micropharm Ltd in Wales, UK, in the middle of March. On April 22, we shall also collect more ASV from ICP University in Costa Rica, but my fear is the next three to four weeks. The quantity in the store is so little. The situation is particularly frightening because this is the peak period of snake bites. It could be disastrous. Snakebites are more rampant at this period because of the heat. Snakes are cold-blooded animals and are usually forced out of their hiding places when it is hot.”
He said most snake treating centres like the General Hospital, Kaltungo, Gombe State and the Zamko Comprehensive Centre, Langtang, in Plateau State, were already receiving many cases of snakebites. It is very unfortunate that we find ourselves in this position at this time every year. It is almost a normal occurrence in the country that shortly before and during the hot season, there are many cases of snake bites because the reptiles come out of their hiding places. Also, that is the period when farmers return to the farms for the planting season, increasing their vulnerability to bites. Still, there is perennial scarcity of anti-snake venom.
This does not portray us as a serious country. Since we are fully aware of this yearly occurrence, there is no reason why we should be caught unawares. Enough anti-snake venom should be available to take care of people who may be bitten by snakes. There is no reason why we should wait till this period before we order for the drug.
Nigeria as a country is big enough to develop and produce anti-snake venom and there are snake farms in the country to make the job easier. We should research on the types of snakes in the country and produce anti-venoms for them. We therefore call on the government to mandate research institutes and relevant institutions to embark on such without delay. They should be given a time frame within which to carry out the research so that the result can be made available as soon as possible. Local snake charmers could be engaged to work with the researchers and help capture the snakes in order to extract the venom, from which labs can then produce anti-venom.
Producing anti-venoms in the country will make it both availability and affordable. Durfa’s statement suggests that Nigeria relies on only one company for the supply of anti-snake venoms. That is a huge risk. Why would one company have the monopoly over snake anti-venoms? More companies should be contracted so that no one holds us to ransom. Where one company is unable to deliver, another can deliver the product to us.
There are only a few hospitals around with facilities to treat snake bites. This has resulted in many deaths which could have been avoided. Snake bite is very dangerous and victims require quick attention to survive, so the time spent transporting a victim to a hospital located far away from his home can be fatal. Government should take steps to ensure that every health care centre has facilities to cater to snake bite victims. Primary health care centers and general hospitals across the country should be properly equipped for this purpose. We must understand that nobody is immune to snake bite; as a matter of fact, everyone is a potential victim and action should be taken immediately to save lives.