Poor rural farmers are bearing the brunt of a global shortage of anti-snake venom, the Medical Director of the Snakebite Hospital and Research Centre, Kaltungo, Gombe State, Dr Nicholas Amani, has said.

Amani spoke while reacting to the death of aspiring singer Ifunanya Nwangene, who reportedly died after a snakebite in Abuja on Saturday.

He said the scarcity persists worldwide because snakebite mainly affects marginalised populations with little social or political influence.

“The truth is that anti-snake venom is a scarce commodity all around the world. The reason is that snakebite mainly affects the less privileged, farmers and rural dwellers, people who do not really have a voice,” he said.

Speaking to journalists, Amani explained that this marginalisation has resulted in chronic under-investment in the production and distribution of anti-snake venom.

“Everywhere we attend conferences and international meetings, it is the same issue: scarcity, scarcity. Ultimately, there are no free anti-snake venoms available.

Most of them are now being sold by pharmacy vendors,” he said.

He added that despite renewed attention to snakebite as a major public health concern, even specialised hospitals currently lack adequate supplies, forcing patients to source the life-saving drug from private outlets.

Amani stressed that the core challenge remains poor advocacy for those most affected.

“The people affected don’t have a voice. That is why we keep making noise, so they can have a voice and government, as well as NGOs, will listen and understand the situation. Government is doing a lot, I must say.

But once anti-snake venom is procured, given the number of patients we have, it is exhausted very quickly. That is why NGOs and other organisations must also step in,” he said.

He noted that local production of anti-snake venom, frequently advocated by experts, including Gombe State Deputy Governor Manassah Daniel Jatau, would require massive financial and technical investment.