By .Ogechi Anita Agu
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The death of Ifunanya Nwangene an aspiring Nigerian singer who dies on the 31st January as a result of snakebite, and lack of anti-vemom in hospitals where she was talking to, has raised a national concern..
A motion sponsored by senator Idiat Adebule, representing Lagos West, drew the attention of the senate during their plenary on Tuesday, to what she described as an urgent National public importance, the dangerous gaps in lack of emergency readiness and access to critical antidotes in health facilities.
Senator Adebule opined that Nigeria continues to record increasing cases of snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning, drug overdose and other forms of envenomation, which result in avoidable deaths due to delays in administering specific antidotes, citing the tragic death of Ms. Ifunanya Nwangene as a stark example of systemic failure.
Supporting the motion, Senator ziam, talked about adequate provision of antidotes for snake bite, He Said, policy should be put in place to protect citizens and to check mate this inadequacy. Saying health is wealth.
Sen. Anthony Ani okorie, supported the motion emphasizing on the importance of adequate and easily available medical facilities.
After extensive deliberations, the Senate adopted a series of resolutions, urging the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, through relevant agencies, to develop and enforce national guidelines prescribing minimum stock levels of essential antidotes and emergency medicines in designated public and private hospitals.
The Senate also mandated the Ministry, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to ensure procurement, quality assurance, proper storage and nationwide availability of safe, effective and affordable anti-vemoms with priority to high risk regions.
Also, State Governments, through their ministries of health and hospital management boards, were directed to conduct immediate audits of public and private hospitals to ascertain compliance with approved antidote stocking and emergency preparedness standards. Professional and regulatory bodies were asked also tasked with strengthening emergency response standards and ensuring periodic training of healthcare workers on the administration of antidotes.
The Senate in addition, called for the establishment of coordinated emergency referral and response systems linking public and private hospitals to guarantee timely access to life saving medicines. It further resolved that stocking of essential antidotes should become a mandatory condition for licencing, registration and renewal of accreditation of private hospitals.
The lawmakers also directed the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation Agency to lunch a nationwide public awareness campaign on the importance of prompt hospital presentation after snakebites, poisoning and envenomation, warning against delays in seeking medical care.
The senate condoled with the family of the deceased and also observed a minute silence in her honour.
