The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday charged the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to establish coordinated emergency referral and response systems linking public and private hospitals to ensure rapid access to critical medicines during medical emergencies.
The lawmakers, who raised serious concerns over the widespread lack of life-saving antidotes in Nigerian hospitals, warned that gaps in emergency preparedness were contributing to avoidable deaths across the country.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that the Senate’s resolution came amid public outrage over the death of Abuja-based singer, Ifunanya Nwangene, popularly known as Nanyah, who reportedly died after suffering a snakebite at her home.
Adopting 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 and emergency medicines in Public and Private Hospitals across Nigeria”, the senate called on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) 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.
Presenting the motion, Adebule lamented the growing number of emergency cases requiring immediate medical intervention, stressing that the absence of essential antidotes in hospitals was costing lives.
She expressed concern that Nigeria is witnessing a rise in medical emergencies, such as snakebites, scorpion stings, poisoning, drug overdoses, and other forms of envenomation, which demand prompt treatment with specific antidotes and emergency medicines in public and private hospitals to avert preventable deaths and lasting health complications.
She added, “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 told the chamber that many public and private hospitals across the country either do not stock essential life-saving antidotes such as antivenoms and anti-toxins or maintain inadequate quantities, resulting in dangerous delays, repeated referrals and preventable fatalities.
“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,” she said.
Nwangene’s death went viral over the weekend after her choir confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement signed by its Music Director, Sam Ezugwu. Reports alleged that she sought urgent care at two hospitals but was left untreated due to the absence of antivenom.
However, the management of the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, where she was eventually taken, said its medical personnel made concerted efforts to save her life but were unsuccessful.
Adebule further noted that the World Health Organisation classifies snakebite envenoming as a neglected tropical disease and emphasises the importance of timely access to safe and effective antivenoms, particularly in countries like Nigeria where such incidents are common.