The Senate has called on the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure the procurement and nationwide availability of antivenoms in public and private hospitals.
This is according to a statement by Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, during plenary deliberations.
The call follows growing concerns over preventable deaths linked to the absence of life-saving antidotes in health facilities, especially in high-risk regions across the country.
According to Senator Akpabio, Nigeria must urgently strengthen its emergency healthcare response to prevent avoidable fatalities.
“The Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, must ensure procurement, quality assurance, proper storage, and nationwide availability of safe, effective, and affordable antivenoms and critical antidotes for use in public and private hospitals, with priority attention to high-risk regions,” he stated.
The resolution followed the consideration of a motion sponsored by Senator Adebule Idiat Oluranti (APC, Lagos West), which drew attention to the urgent need for federal and state governments to guarantee adequate stocking, availability, and access to life-saving antidotes and emergency medicines nationwide.
While presenting the motion, Idiat, a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, noted that Nigeria continues to witness a rise in medical emergencies, including snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning, drug overdoses, and other forms of envenomation.
