Senate Wants FG, States To Ensure Availability of Anti-Venoms

The Nigerian Senate has urged the Federal and state governments to take urgent action to ensure the steady availability of safe, effective and affordable anti-venom drugs in both public and private hospitals, as part of efforts to curb preventable deaths nationwide.

The call followed a motion raised under matters of national importance by Senator Idiat Adebule, who represents Lagos West Senatorial District, in response to the recent death of Miss Ifunanya Nwangene in Abuja.

Presenting the motion, Senator Adebule expressed concern that Nigeria continues to witness medical emergencies resulting in premature loss of lives due to the absence of critical life-saving antidotes, a situation she described as alarming.

She said the death of Miss Nwangene from a snake bite was a national embarrassment, and appealed to the Federal and state ministries of health, alongside private health sector stakeholders, to formulate and implement national guidelines for managing medical emergencies in order to prevent avoidable fatalities.

While reading out the prayers contained in the motion, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, urged the government to enforce national standards that prescribe minimum stock levels of essential antidotes in all public and private hospitals across the country.

Other prayers in the motion called on the Federal Ministry of Health, working in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to ensure the procurement, quality control, proper storage and nationwide distribution of safe, effective and affordable anti-venoms and other vital antidotes, with particular focus on high-risk areas.

James Itodo, Edited By Grace Namiji