The Dilemma Of A Snakebite Student

Treatment of snakebite at health facilities in the country is virtually free but in the case of Ebenezer Opoku Agyemang, a first year student at Beposo Islamic Senior High School, his case was different when he was sent to Asante Mampong Municipal hospital.

,Mr Opoku Agyemang,the father of the victim said on last Sunday morning at about 8.30 ,his son went to the bush to search for leaves for their rabbits when he was bitten by a snake.

He said he was first sent to Beposo Health Center for treatment but for fifteen minutes the nurses on duty did not do anything to him because they could not find the key to the dispensary so they directed him to Asante Mampong Municipal hospital.

According to Mr Opoku Agyemang,he spent more than three hundred Ghana cedis at the hospital including anti-snakebite serum he was directed to buy from a particular private pharmacy store at Asante Mampong with a prescription.

When contacted, Mr Otchere Korsah,the hospital pharmacist explained that treatment of snakebite at the hospital including the cost of the anti-snakebite serum was virtually free and could not understand what happened on that day.

He explained that because of the scarcity of the drug, sometimes the hospital receives about five of the drugs monthly from the regional hospital describing the situation as woefully inadequate.

He added that the drug is not for sale so as to how the victim’s father was directed to buy the drug with the prescription at a particular store was questionable and would be investigated.