The people in Abease and its environs, like many other farming communities in Ghana, face the harsh reality of contending with snake bites.
Nearly 4 persons report with snake bite each month. The cases reach their peak in March and August, when the Brong Ahafo region records most rains.
According to Mr. Kwakye Emmanuel Adu, Physician Assistant at the Our lady of Fatima Catholic Health Centre, Abease, the persistent shortage of anti-snake venom to treat patients who present with snake bites is worrisome. Clients who are bitten in the farm have to travel long distances before getting to the clinic for management and most cases when the condition is in their worse form of envenomation. The absence of anti-snake to initiate treatment at the health centre remains a worrying trend. He said the nearest referral facility are the Kintampo Municipal Hospital, Atebubu and St. Mathias Catholic Hospital, Yeji.
In almost all the cases, because clients are not able to distinguish between the types of snakes that bite them, an otherwise enhanced treatment is delayed. The absence of the venom demoralizes the patients from reporting to the centre for treatment. Most of the people therefore end up not bringing the patients with snake bites to the facility and resort to home/ herbal remedies with poor prognosis and some cases ending up in death.
Abease is a town situated in the Pru West in the Bono East region with 31 surrounding villages. It has a population of 16,000. 96% of the inhabitants are farmers and cultivate yam and groundnut. Many others are ‘charcoal burners’ and vegetable farmers.