Help: Snakebite patients appeal for govt subsidy on treatment

Health minister, Pate

Snakebite patients in Gombe State have decried the soaring cost of life-saving treatment and called for urgent government intervention.Some of the patients who spoke to newsmen in Kaltungo Local Government on Thursday, appealed to both the state and Federal Government to act swiftly.

Malam Ali Idris, a resident of Bojude Village said he was bitten by a snake and spent eight days in hospital.

“Upon arrival, l was informed that the hospital had no anti-snake venom in stock. To survive, I had to purchase two vials of the drug from external sources at a total cost of N500,000,” he said.

Although Idris is now recovering, he described the experience as both traumatic and financially draining.

“It wasn’t easy to raise that kind of money. Most snakebite patients are poor people from rural communities.

“There are still patients in the hospital who cannot afford the treatment, we are begging the government to help us,” he said.

Also speaking, Malam Abubakar Muhammed, a patient from Abuja-Bula in Gombe, who spent two days in the hospital, said he managed to buy one vial of anti-snake venom for N250,000, but not without great difficulty.

“The economic situation is really hard, some patients come with no money at all and have no means to pay for treatment. Others are borrowing from friends or relatives just to survive,” he said.

Abubakar called on the government to subsidise the cost of treatment for snakebite victims.

“Even if the government cannot provide the drugs for free as they used to, they should at least cover half the cost, that will go a long way in saving lives,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Nicholas Hamman, Principal Medical Officer at the Snakebite Hospital and Research Centre in Kaltungo said that both the state and Federal Governments were currently working to procure 5,000 vials of anti-snake venom to address the growing crisis.