'Provide Hospitals With Anti-Snake Serums to Prevent Death of Rural Farmers

Dr Nsiah Asare,Director-General,GHS

An appeal has been made to the Ministry of Health (MHO) and the Ghana Health Services (GHS) to as a matter of urgency provide anti-snake serum to health facilities in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions for treatment of snake bites on rural farmers.

Mr Vincent Subbey, Executive Director, Trax Program Support Ghana, a non-governmental organisation who made the appeal through the Ghanaian Times said that many rural farmers in the three regions often experience snake bites during farming seasons between April and June.

It comes on the back of a similar appeal by Avoyam Missions International, a community based religious organisation in the Upper East Region on the need for government to ensure that the MOH and the GHS stock the Chaina Health Center (CHC) in the Kassena-Nankana West District with anti-snake serum to provide treatment for snake bites in the area.

He stressed that most rural farmers in the past farming season had died as a result of the lack of the anti-snake serum at many health facilities in the region coupled with the high cost of the serum.

"There is the urgent need for the Government to support the MHO and the GHS to stock health facilities in the three northern regions, particularly health facilities in rural areas and to also make the serum affordable to farmers who are bitten by snakes to access to help prevent the many deaths associated with the snake bites", he stressed.

He stressed the rural farmers play major role in food security in the country and stressed that there was therefore the need for them to be given the needed support to enable them continue to produce to help feed the nation.

Mr Subbey indicated that Trax Ghana has been working with smallholder farmers, including 300 farmer groups in 19 different communities in the Upper East and Northern regions of Ghana, comprising over eight thousand direct beneficiaries.

He stated that the mission of the organis 'ation was "to empower rural communities in Ghana through sustainable capacity development to achieve and maintain improvement in their environment and livelihoods".

"In order to be able to manage alternative livelihood ventures effectively and to ensure financial sustainability, farmer groups, especially women are trained on basic literacy and simple bookkeeping and Village Savings and Loans Associations for easy access to (start-up) capital", the Executive Director stated.

Read Full Story