The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, has urged the Federal Government to make antivenom free nationwide, while also calling for local antivenom manufacturing to address preventable snakebite-related deaths.
The National Chairman of the Association, Ambroze Eze, made the appeal on Tuesday, following the death of Abuja-based singer, Ifunanya Nwangene.
Eze expressed condolences to the family, describing the death as a tragic and painful loss, while urging the Federal Government to declare snakebite envenoming a National Health Priority and classify it as a Neglected Tropical Disease. 
According to him, Nigeria records no fewer than 20,000 cases annually, with rural dwellers, farmers, herders, women and children bearing the greatest burden, and about 1,700 people being left permanently disabled.
He also called for a one-off federal investment of 12 million dollars to establish a local antivenom production facility, saying that with political will and coordinated action, the cycle of preventable deaths and disabilities could be broken.
