By Chioma Umeha
The
Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole has debunked rumours that the Federal
government has ran out of stock of the anti-snake venom for the treatment of
snake bite victims.
Reacting
to the report of the death of 91 people as a result of snake bite in Gombe and
Plateau Sta te within three weeks, the Health Minister said 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.
“The
States in questions, have refused to comply with the new procedure of request,
hence their inability to access the product from the ministry,” he
stated.
So
far, five states have made a request and have been issued for the treatment of
victims in the last four months, the last was on September 6, 2017.
Prof.
Adewole however expressed some apprehension that this year’s procurement may
have some hitches because the funding was mistakenly transferred to the
National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
He
also called on the snake bite prevalent states to invest in the 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 (PPP)
arrangement for local production of anti-snake bite venom which will make the
product available affordable and accessible”, the Minister said.
