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From:Ali Abare, Gombe
As the hot season approaches with the attendant rise in snake bites, the Gombe State Government said it has approved N8 million for the procurement of anti-snake venom for the Snake Bite Treatment Centre, Kaltungo.
Commissioner of Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya, disclosed this to newsmen, in Gombe, on Tuesday.
Ishaya said the state government would inform the public as soon as the venom arrives the centre.
The commissioner said the centre provided free treatment, antibiotics as well as surgical care to patients bitten by snakes, with patients trooping from other parts of the country as well asfeom Cameroun and Chad Republic.
He further disclosed that the Federal Government had in July provided 100 ampules to the centre, stressing however that all the drugs had been exhausted.
Ishaya added that the new 250-capacity ward for snake bite treatment, furnished with modern equipment, would be inaugurated in November.
The commissioner appealed to the federal government to supply additional ampoules.
Dr Abubakar Balla, offiicer in charge of the Centre, told journalists that the centre had stopped admitting patients because there was no drugs.
He commended the state government for approving funds to procure more drugs.
