Rotary Donates N13m Worth of Anti-Snake Venom Drugs in Gombe
By Najib Sani, Gombe
Rotary International has brought succour to snake bite victims in Gombe State as it donated over N13 million worth of anti-snake venom drugs to the Kaltungo Snake Bite Hospital and Research Centre in Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe State.
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.
Dantata said scarcity of anti-venom drugs in Nigeria prompted the intervention.
He called for the judicious utilisation of the drugs and promised that the organisation was ever ready to bring more support to state, citing 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 Rotary’s intervention saying 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.
Amani assured that the donation would be given to deserving patients.
Chairman of Kaltungo Local Government Area, 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.
Kaltungo Snake Bite Hospital and Research Centre is one of the primary treatment centres in Nigeria, particularly in the north where poisonous snakes are prevalent.
