Senior Three student dies from snakebite in Kamuli
Burden: In Uganda, a number of people are bitten by snakes but many die due to lack of anti-venoms that match the type of snake. After research, experts have come up with a few recommendations. PHOTO/REUTERS.
What you need to know:
- The Namasagali College chairperson Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Godfrey Apuuli Nyakaana, said the victim arrived at Kamuli General Hospital “almost motionless”
A Senior Three student at Namasagali College has died after being bitten by a poisonous snake which slithered into the dormitory last week.
The late Nasser Ssajjabi, who was laid to rest on Saturday at Bulembo Village, Kidera sub-county, Buyende District, was reportedly bitten by the reptile which he mistook for a mosquito bite. He was later pronounced dead upon arrival at Kamuli General Hospital.
A teacher at Namasagali College, who preferred anonymity because he is not the spokesperson of the institution, said the deceased was bitten by the snake at around 2am on Wednesday last week, suggesting that there were attempts to keep the incident under wraps.
But after Ssajjabi informing his roommates, the incident sparked frantic efforts to save his life, including rushing him to Namasagali Health Centre III which had no antivenomous drug.
“He was referred to Kamuli General Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after,” the teacher said on Monday.
The Namasagali College chairperson Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Godfrey Apuuli Nyakaana, said the victim arrived at Kamuli General Hospital “almost motionless”.
Blame games
He, however, attributed the death partly to the abrasive terrain of Namasagali-Kamuli Road, which is characterised by potholes, and the lack of moveable trucks at the College, adding that if the three vehicles at the school were not grounded, that life wouldn’t have been lost.
“The College currently has a fleet of dead vehicles in front of its offices,” he said, adding that the hard-to-reach school is about 23Kms from Kamuli General Hospital, making it hard to evacuate a patient on time, which is also exacerbated by poor security, especially during the late-night hours.
But according to the female district councillor representing Namasagali sub-county, Christine Kaguna Owagage, there should be no blame game for the demise of the student, saying “all categories are partly to blame”.
She said: “The whole chain link is rotten, right from the top, because Namasagali Health Centre III was at the level of a district hospital in the 1970s to the late 1980s, but I am still wondering why such a facility lacks essential medicine like antivenom yet it is near the Victoria Nile shoreline.”
The newly-transferred headmaster of Namasagali College, Frank Sendi, regretted the tragedy, especially as he is just settling in to adapt to the new environment, and described the deceased as a “slightly above average and promising student”.
