Snakebite Awareness Day: Price for anti-venom over high sotei di push Cameroon pipo for traditional doctors
Price for snakebite merecin 'anti-venom' for Cameroon, FCFA 50,000 for one dose over high sotei di make kontri pipo go for traditional doctors first.
Wen snake bite Birwe Barnabas as e di run from village ritual for Yagoua, for Far North Cameroon, na de whole family bi get for join-join money buy de merecin afta traditional doctors no treat' am. "Ah bin first go for traditional doctor make deh suck de poison, if no bi say na family helep pay before ah go hospital, ah for die. Merecin for snake bite too cost", Birwe tell BBC News Pidgin. For now, merecin for snakebite dey for ten regions but de problem na say wen snake bite, de pesin need at least one dose around FCFA 50, 000, ($84.2) Dr. Yap Boum for Doctors Without Borders, Representative for Epicentre for Africa, tell BBC News Pidgin. Dr. Yap Boum say de number for snakebites na about 600 for year and Northern region get high number for snakebites, about 20 percent, as de world di mark snake bite awareness day dis number 19 day for September. Yap Boum for Doctors Without Borders, Representative for Epicentre for Africa Dr. Armand S. Nkwescheu, Epidemiology Service, Centre Pasteur, add say goment put moni for make de merecin cheap for about FCFA 35,000 $59) for kontri pipo for Far North. World Health Organization (WHO) check say around 81,000-138,000 pipo di die from snakebite everi year, about 400,000 di get disability or dia face di get damage. Some data show say na about 300 to 400 snakebites for 100,000 pipo for Cameroon and six percent of de pipo di die, Dr NKwescheu add. Goment don di try make deh get good quality and plenti merecin for hospitals, from CENAME, centre weh e di keep drugs and deh di helep NGOs for fight snake bites, Dr Nkwescheu tok. WHO say snakebite na neglected disease di beg partners make deh join hand fight'am as companies weh deh di make merecin for snakebite stop because gain no dey. Just now Institute Pasteur for Paris, Epicentre and Cameroon society of epidemiology and IRD di shine eye if some snakebite merecin for market di treat fain and if e bi safe. Weti pipo no suppose do wen snake bite dem Doctors say na danger for tie de place weh snake bite and no cut de wound make blood komot. No apply any merecin for de wound and no try for kill de snake as e fit attack. Take de pesin for hospital wit de leg straight for one position. Weti communities get for do Dr. Yap say e good plant fever grass for protect dia house, clean around de compound as snake no di hide for clean place. Meet di snakeman of Lagos