A 12-year-old girl has died after she was bitten by a snake on her way home at Atwemamena, a farming community near Akyem Asafo in the Eastern Region.
The incident occurred Wednesday Evening around 7pm.
The deceased, Uche Esther, was rushed to the Hawa Memorial Hospital at Akyem Osiem where she was admitted but died hours later at the hospital while undergoing treatment.
Management of the Hospital say Esther died despite receiving several shots of anti-venom. They are suspecting late arrival for the inefficacy of the anti-venom.
Esther’s remains has been released to the family on Thursday for burial.
The incident happened a few hours after Ghana launched Medical Drone delivery Project aimed at curbing deaths such as Esther’s, resulting from lack of anti-snake venom medication.
Though there is no national data on snake bites in Ghana it is estimated that snakebite incidents and mortality are high.
Many rural dwellers mostly peasant farmers and Children are at constant risk of snake bites.
It is essential for snakebite victims to get immediate medical attention, however, most rural communities in Ghana do not have access to emergency facilities or better road network to facilitate their transportation to nearby hospitals to get the correct medicine as soon as possible resulting in deaths.
According to the World Health Organization, despite shortfalls with the available data, there is evidence that between 4.5 million to 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes yearly Worldwide out of which 1.8 to 2.7 million develop clinical illness(envenoming) which results in about 400,000 amputations, while death tolls could range from 81,000 to 138,000.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
