2 August 2018 – “Thank Allah, you saved my son’s life,” says Mohamed’s father while to hugging his 3-year-old son who just received treatment at Obari hospital after having been stung by a  scorpion while playing with his brothers and neighbours in front of his home. 

“Last year at this time we lost 55 people, including 26 children as a result of lack of anti-scorpion serum. The number decreased this year to less than 8,” said Mr Jamale Bbilgasim, Director of Health Service, at Obari. “We witness the results of the availability and quality of the serum – it prevented many deaths. We all in Obari are very thankful to WHO and Italy for providing serum this year, which we desperately need every summer,” Mr Bilgasim added.

In total 4000 doses of scorpion anti-venom, funded by the Government of Italy were delivered by WHO to Libya and distributed to most affected areas, especially in the South.  

Dr Sayed Hussain Jaffar, WHO Representative in Libya said, “In 2017 hundreds of people were bitten by scorpions, and unfortunately many of the victims died, many parents lost their children in the absence of the antidote. We are happy that this year with the generous support of the Italian Government, we were able to avert many deaths by making the time-critical treatment available in many rural areas across Libya.”