Rotary International has helped snake bite victims in Gombe State by donating over N13 million worth of anti-snake venom drugs to the Kaltungo Snake Bite Hospital and Research Centre in Kaltungo local government.
Vice assistant governor of Rotary International, Mohammed Dantata, who presented the drug on Saturday evening, explained that the intervention was meant to assist the victims due to the scarcity and cost of the drugs.
“The scarcity of anti-venom drugs in Nigeria prompted our intervention,” he stated.
He called for the judicious use of drugs in the state and promised that the organisation was ever ready to provide more support. He cited the provision of polio and measles vaccines for immunisation across the
11 local government areas as their latest health intervention in the state.
In his remarks, the chief medical officer (CMO) of the Kaltungo Snake Bite Hospital and Research Centre,
Dr Nicolas Amani, who received the drugs, lauded the Rotary’s intervention saying anti-snake venoms drugs are scarce and very expensive for less privileged patients to purchase.
He described the centre as the largest in the north adding that at present, there were not less than 34 patients under treatment at the hospital. Nicholas assured that the donation would be given to deserving patients.
Chairman of Kaltungo local government, Iliya Suleiman Jatau, expressed gratitude to Rotary for the support, noting that the donation would help snakebite victims, mostly farmers, who cannot afford the costly treatment. “This donation will provide relief to those in need,” he said.
