Anti-snake venom scarce. It costs as much as N250, 000- Gombe snakebite hospital MD says

The Medical Director of the Snakebite Hospital and Research Centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, Dr Nicholas Amani, 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 Punch while reacting to the untimely de@th of aspiring singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, who d!ed after a snake bite in her Abuja apartment. 

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,” he said.

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

On how much it costs to administer the anti-venom on patients, Amani said

“Currently, a vial of anti-snake venom costs about N250,000. Some patients require two or three vials. The people who come with snake bites are very poor. They sell their farmlands and belongings just to buy one vial. Imagine when two or three vials are needed” he lamented.