Community pharmacists demand free antivenom, push for local production to reduce snakebite deaths

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called on the Federal Government to provide antivenom at no cost across the country.


 The group also urged the government to support local production of antivenom, saying it would help curb more than 2,000 preventable snakebite deaths recorded in Nigeria every year.

 The ACPN made the appeal in a statement signed by its National Chairman,  Ambrose Eze, following the death of Abuja-based singer Ifunanya Nwangene.

Eze sympathized with the bereaved family, describing the incident as a heartbreaking and tragic loss. 

 He urged the Federal Government to declare snakebite envenoming a National Health Priority and to recognize it officially as a Neglected Tropical Disease.

Eze said Nigeria records at least 20,000 snakebite cases yearly, with roughly 1,700 victims suffering permanent disability. He added that rural residents, farmers, herders, women, and children carry the heaviest burden.

He noted that Nwangene’s death at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, has again raised concerns about delays in accessing lifesaving antivenom.