Bohol to make anti-venom vaccines accessible after girl’s death
TAGBILARAN CITY—The provincial government of Bohol has decided to make anti-venom vaccines accessible to all Boholanos following the death of a 3-year-old girl who was bitten by a cobra in Loon town.
Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado said he wanted to make sure that no one would again die of snake or venomous animal bites despite the limited supply of the anti-venom vaccine in the province.
“The anti-venom should be strategically made available for Boholanos in order to save lives,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
The governor said he wanted to keep the anti-venom strategically stored in at least four province-owned hospitals in the towns of Talibon, Carmen, Jagna and Catigbian.
Aumentado instructed the Provincial Health Office (PHO) to start setting up the mechanism for the procurement as well as the keeping of the vaccines in these facilities.
Residents in several towns of Bohol have earlier reported the sightings of snakes, especially the “banakon” (king cobra), in their localities.
On Oct. 16, a girl was bitten by a cobra and was first brought to a local “mananambal” (healer) before being sent to the hospital.
She was dead when she was brought to the Loon District Hospital on the same day.
Rapid intervention
Dr. Fruserma Mary Uy, officer-in-charge of PHO, emphasized the need for rapid medical intervention in cases like these.
She discouraged people from making use of other alternative ways of treating snake bites.
“In snake bites, time is of the essence. Delays, especially due to seeking alternative treatments, often cost lives,” Uy said.
Currently, anti-venom is only stocked at the Gov. Celestino Gallares Medical Center in Tagbilaran, which is an hour from Loon town and far from some of the province’s rural areas.
The anti-venom vaccine can only be accessed from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and it is not mass-produced.
Environmental lawyer Jordan Pizarras, while a cobra preservation advocate, also called for the stocking of anti-venom drug in district hospitals.
