The Senate has called on governments at all levels to urgently strengthen emergency healthcare delivery by mandating the availability of minimum stocks of anti-venom and other life-saving antidotes in hospitals across Nigeria, especially in snake-prone and high-risk areas.
The upper legislative chamber specifically urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop and enforce national guidelines that would require designated public and private hospitals to maintain minimum stock levels of essential antidotes and emergency medicines.
It also directed health regulatory authorities to make the stocking of critical antidotes a compulsory condition for the licensing, registration and renewal of accreditation of private hospitals nationwide.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Idiat Adebule (APC, Lagos West) under a Point of Order on an urgent matter of national importance during plenary. The motion drew attention to the death of a 26-year-old singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, popularly known as Nanya, who reportedly died from a snakebite last Saturday in Abuja.
According to the motion, the victim rushed to two hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory for emergency treatment but was allegedly left unattended due to the unavailability of anti-venom at both facilities.
Presenting the motion, Senator Adebule stressed the urgent need for federal and state governments to guarantee adequate stocking, availability and access to life-saving antidotes and emergency medicines across the country. She noted that Nigeria continues to record increasing cases of medical emergencies, including snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning, drug overdoses and other forms of envenomation.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) called for special attention to states with high incidences of snakebites.
“In many parts of the country, snakebites are a common occurrence, yet our hospitals are grossly unprepared. This resolution is about saving lives and enforcing accountability,” Karimi said.
Senator Anthony Ani (APC, Ebonyi South) urged that compliance with minimum emergency medical stock requirements be directly tied to hospital licensing.
“We must go beyond resolutions. Hospitals that cannot meet basic emergency care standards should not be allowed to operate,” he stated.
Similarly, Senator Titus Zam (APC, Benue North-West) said rural communities are often the worst affected by poor healthcare infrastructure, describing access to anti-venom as a matter of social justice.
“The poor and those in remote communities bear the brunt of these failures. Ensuring access to anti-venom is a matter of social justice,” he said.
In its resolutions, the Senate also called on health regulatory authorities to ensure adequate budgetary provisions and efficient supply mechanisms for public hospitals. It further directed the Federal Ministry of Information and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to embark on nationwide public sensitisation campaigns on the importance of prompt hospital presentation after snakebites, poisoning and other forms of envenomation, as well as the dangers of delayed medical treatment.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio expressed condolences to the family of the deceased and Nigerians, describing the incident as deeply saddening and unacceptable.
“This is a loss that should never have happened. As a nation, we must do better to protect the lives of our citizens,” Akpabio said.