TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) – Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado is ensuring that no one now dies of snake or venomous animal bites without getting an antivenom shot.
The governor is seeking for the antivenom to be accessible to all and intends to keep these life-saving shots available in at least four province-owned hospitals.
This after a child died in Bohol who was bitten by a venomous snake in Loon, which is less than an hour away from the apex hospital where the government keeps antivenom in its emergency inventory.
The governor has instructed the Provincial Health Office through the officer in charge, Dr. Fruserma Mary Uy, to initiate the move to make the antivenom accessible not just in one facility in Bohol but in province-owned hospitals.
Although antivenom shots are available at the Gallares Hospital, the governor believes that it is still not easily accessible to far-flung areas that it would take considerable time for victims to reach the service hospital.
“In snake bites, the time element is of extreme importance,” Uy said, adding that the scientific community discourages accessing other alternative ways of treating the bite.
In Loon, Bohol, the relative of the child who was bitten by a snake took over two hours to bring the victim to the hospital.
For her part, Uy admitted that from time to time, cases of snake bites are reported in Bohol considering the region is in a tropical country.
“Getting the antivenom strategically made available for Boholanos is a bold step,” she said.
Gallares Hospital is some two hours away from the farthest town of Ubay, and a patient’s transport could still take some time.
“We have to make the anti-venom available for Talibon, Carmen, Jagna, Catigbian,” the governor said.
With the governor’s instructions,Uy said they started setting up the mechanism for the procurement as well as the storage of the vaccines in the facilities.
“These are toxins that we need to have a toxicologist to keep these in stock, and the personnel to handle these have to be properly trained,”
according to Uy.
As the snake antivenom can only be accessed from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), these are not mass produced and do not also keep its potency over time.
“We do not need to keep them in bulk, just a few shots in strategic areas in Bohol, because these activated anti-venom have to be kept in the cold chain at the proper temperature and somebody has to oversee its storage and administration,” said Uy. (RAHC/PIA-7 Bohol)
