SENATE ORDERS ANTI-VENOM STOCK IN HOSPITALS AFTER SINGER’S DEATH …SAYS PRIVATE HOSPITAL WITHOUT ANTI-VENOM SHOULD NOT BE LICENCED
The Senate has called on the Federal Government to ensure all hospitals in Nigeria stock snake anti-venoms and other life-saving antidotes following the death of Abuja-based singer Ifeanyi Nwangene, popularly known as Nanyah, who died from a snake bite at her home.
On Tuesday, lawmakers urged the Ministry of Health to issue national guidelines mandating minimum stock levels of anti-venoms and emergency medicines in both public and private hospitals.
The Senate also directed that private hospitals failing to maintain these essential medicines should not be registered or licensed.
It called for sufficient budgetary allocation and steady supply of anti-venoms in public hospitals.
The move follows a motion by Senator Idiat Oluranti Adebule (APC, Lagos West), who warned that Nigeria’s growing cases of snake bites, scorpion stings, poisonings, and drug overdoses demand immediate access to specific antidotes to prevent avoidable deaths.
Senators said Nwangene’s death exposed gaps in emergency preparedness, stressing that it could have been prevented with proper hospital readiness.
The Senate further urged the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with NAFDAC, to ensure procurement, quality control, storage, and nationwide availability of safe, effective, and affordable anti-venoms, with priority for high-risk areas.
State governments were also called upon to audit public and private hospitals to confirm compliance with antidote-stocking and emergency standards.
The Senate observed a minute of silence in honor of Nwangene, who died at 26.
