Hon. Alhassan Mumuni, Member of Parliament (MP) for Salaga North, has presented 200 vials of Anti-Snakebites serum to the Kpalbe Health Centre District under the District Directorate of Health to tackle snake bites in the area.
According to him, the donation was as a result of frequent reports of snake bites by residents, hence the donation to help the Health Centre to contain the situation.
He told THE REPUBLIC after the donation that snake bites have become a major challenge at Salaga in the Savanna Region.
Residents in the area who are mostly farmers die because they cannot afford the high cost of the anti-snake serum.
As a result, the MP who is the Deputy Ranking of Defence and Interior Committee of parliament said he promised at an assembly meeting to procured a number of anti-snake serums to assist the constituents.
He added that the procurement of the anti-snake venom was also part of efforts to support the Health Centre to properly handle snakebite cases in the area.
A total of 200 vials of the anti-snake serum have been acquired at a cost of Ghc50,000 to be administered at no cost to victims of snake bites.
The intervention, Hon. Mumuni said is also intended to ameliorate the financial plight of patients suffering from snakebites in the constituency.
The anti-snake serum is the single most effective antidote for snake venom.
Not only is the serum expensive, but it is also in short supply most of the times.
This has been challenged by a situation which is evident in the Salaga North constituency.
The vaccine is a program drug supposed to be administered for free, but it mostly ends up in private hands and sold to patients at cut-throat prices.
This is the first time in the history of Kpalbe community in Salaga North that an MP has donated anti-snake serum to the constituents.
The MP urged the Health officials to widen the distribution to cover most communities in the constituency.
He said in order to meet the health needs of the people, the erstwhile John Mahama administration put some health centres but they been abandoned by the current government.
Mr Mumuni, therefore, urged the government to live up to its responsibility and complete the abandoned clinics and as well pay the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) services providers to enable residents to have access to healthcare.
The lawmaker also called on the Ministry of Energy to provide additional transformers to the community to reduce frequent power outage due to overload on the single transformer.
Madam Gertrude Yentumi, District Director of Health, who received the Anti-snake serum thanked the MP for the gesture and promised to ensure that residents who fall victim to snake bites are promptly and adequately attended.
The Anti-snakebite donation was preceded by a cleanup exercise around the Kpalbe Health Centre, to keep the surroundings clean and inhabitable for snakes and other reptiles.
Source: therepublicnwsonline.com/Felix Nyaaba