DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Nigeria Upgrades Snakebite Centre, Approves Health Sector Initiatives

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • Nigeria's Federal Executive Council approved the upgrade of the Kaltungo Snakebite Treatment Centre to a national research and treatment center.
  • The upgrade addresses the significant annual burden of snakebite cases, which cause deaths and socio-economic consequences.
  • The council also approved initiatives for blood donation, tuberculosis response, and reproductive health commodities.

Nigeria's health sector is taking significant steps to address long-standing public health challenges, with a particular focus on snakebite treatment and broader health system improvements. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the upgrade of the Kaltungo Snakebite Treatment Centre into the National Snakebite Research and Medical Centre, a move hailed as commendable given the high mortality rate from snakebites.

The upgrade of the Kaltungo Snakebite Treatment Centre is commendable.

General statement about the approval

Snakebites claim hundreds of Nigerian lives annually, with the country recording over 43,000 cases each year, leading to deaths, disabilities, and severe socio-economic impacts. States like Gombe, Plateau, and Adamawa are among those most affected. This new center will be the first specialized facility of its kind in Nigeria and the wider sub-region, aiming to bolster research and treatment capabilities.

Beyond snakebites, the FEC also greenlit several other critical health initiatives. These include the procurement of mobile blood donation clinics to improve blood collection and distribution, addressing a national shortfall where only 25-30% of the required 1.8 million units of blood are collected annually. Additionally, approvals were granted for tuberculosis commodities to strengthen the nation's response to a high global burden of the disease and reduce reliance on foreign aid, as well as for reproductive health and family planning commodities.

Nigeria records over 43,000 snakebite cases yearly, causing deaths, disabilities and severe socio-economic consequences.

— Mohammed PateCoordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare confirming the scale of the snakebite problem.

The intervention on snakebite is particularly significant, recalling past promises and collaborative efforts, such as the Nigeria/UK Echitab Study Group, which aimed to make Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) available and affordable. The development of three ASV brands using local snake venom was a key outcome of these efforts. The recent death of a singer from a snakebite highlighted the persistent neglect of this public health issue, underscoring the urgency and importance of the newly approved upgrade.

While we commend all the initiatives, the intervention on snakebite is very significant.

Highlighting the importance of the snakebite initiative.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog