The House of Senate
Following the death of the Abuja-based Nigerian singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, who passed after suffering a snakebite and being unable to access antivenom treatment promptly, the Senate on Tuesday urged state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration to establish coordinated emergency response over rising deaths from poorly handled medical emergencies.
According to the lawmakers, such moves would aid rapid access to life-saving medicines, particularly during emergencies such as snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning and drug overdoses, where delays often prove fatal.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Idiat Oluranti Adebule (APC, Lagos West), titled “Urgent Need for the Federal and State Governments to ensure adequate stocking, availability, and access to life-saving antidotes and emergency medicines in Public and Private Hospitals across Nigeria.”
Raising the motion, Adebule said Nigeria continues to record a disturbing rise in emergency cases requiring immediate medical intervention, lamenting that systemic gaps in hospital preparedness were costing lives.
“Nigeria continues to record increasing cases of medical emergencies, including snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning, drug overdoses, and other forms of envenomation, all of which require the immediate administration of specific antidotes and emergency medicines in both public and private hospitals to prevent avoidable deaths and irreversible health complications.
“We also note with grave concern the tragic and avoidable death of Miss Ifunanya Nwangene, who reportedly died following a snakebite in Abuja, thereby revealing serious gaps in emergency preparedness and antidote availability within public and private hospitals in Nigeria.”
The senator noted that the World Health Organisation classifies snakebite envenoming as a neglected tropical disease and stresses the importance of timely access to safe and effective antivenoms, especially in countries like Nigeria, where such incidents are common.
Adebule further said the Senate was concerned that a significant number of public and private hospitals across Nigeria do not stock essential life-saving antidotes such as antivenoms and anti-toxins, or maintain insufficient quantities, leading to dangerous delays in treatment, unnecessary referrals, and preventable loss of lives.
She also said, “We are concerned that victims of snakebites and other poisoning emergencies are frequently compelled to move from one public hospital to a private hospital, or vice versa, in search of antidotes during the critical ‘golden hour,’ thereby substantially increasing mortality and morbidity rates.”
Following the debate, the Senate called on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, working with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, to ensure the procurement, quality assurance, proper storage and nationwide availability of safe, effective and affordable antivenoms and other critical antidotes, with priority given to high-risk regions.”
Lawmakers also urged state governments, through their ministries of health and hospital management boards, to immediately audit public and private hospitals to assess compliance with antidote-stocking and emergency preparedness standards.
It also called on health regulatory authorities to make the stocking of essential antidotes a mandatory requirement for the licensing, registration and renewal of accreditation of private hospitals, while ensuring adequate budgetary provisions and supply mechanisms for public hospitals.
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