Nigeria on Saturday received 4,000 vials of Anti-Snake Venom
(ASV), ending months of acute shortage of the drug and bringing relief to
victims of snakebites across the country.
The paucity of the drug, which hit the country at the peak
of snake-bites – usually between January and April when the scorching heat
forces snakes out of their holes to cool their bodies – had resulted in several
deaths.
According to Dr Nandul Durfa, Managing Director, Echitab
Study Group, the outfit handling the distribution of ASV in Nigeria, many
snake-bite treatment centres recorded many deaths during that period as the
medics were helpless.
“The period of acute shortage was agonising, but we are
happy that it is now over. The ASV is now available. We have received a total
of 4,000 vials of the drug.
“We have received 2,000 polyvalent ASV produced at the
Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP), University of Costa Rica, which treats bites
from all venomous snakes in Nigeria.
“We have also received 2,000 monovalent ASV produced by
Micropharm Ltd, United Kingdom, solely for carpet vipers, the commonest snakes
in Nigeria,’’ Durfa told the newsmen, on Sunday in Jos.
He regretted the delay in the supply of the facility that
left snakebite victims helpless, and blamed that on the tedious process
involved in producing and importing the ASV.
“The process is usually tedious and lasts more than three
months. Normally, we take the live snakes to Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine where they are killed and their venom extracted and sent to the
manufacturing sites in Wales and Costa Rica
“There is a specific
period allocated for the production of the ASV for Nigeria. It means we must
wait for that period no matter how pressed we are,’’ he explained.
While urging snake-bite treatment centres to procure the
facility, he commended the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative
(PCNI), for procuring and distributing the drug free, to victims at the General
Hospital, Gombe.
He urged governments at all levels, as well as individuals
and organisations, to procure the drug and distribute to treatment centres in
Gombe, Plateau, Benue, Taraba and other states usually hit by the menace.
Durfa said that the cost of producing and transporting the
ASV was high, but thanked the manufacturers – ICP University in Costa Rica and
Micropharm Ltd in the UK – for making it available and affordable for
Nigerians.
The shortage of the drug had led to several deaths in some
snake-treatment centres, especially General Hospital, Kaltungo and Zamko
Comprehensive Centre in Langtang, Plateau State.
Records from some treatment centres indicated that an
average of 16 cases were received at the peak period, with some snakebite
victims forced to patronise quacks and herbal homes which, in most cases,
merely worsened their plight.
Durfa, however, says that the shortage of ASV would persist
unless the country starts producing the drug locally.
“The only time we can have enough ASV to meet our rising
demand is when we produce it locally. That is the only time we can determine
our fate. That is the only time we can determine our destiny.
“The partners are ready and willing to transfer the technology
for the production of the ASV, but Nigeria has not been forthcoming,’’ he said.
( NAN)
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