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In Nigeria's Snake Belt, the new initiative is welcome, but will not come soon enough for many.
May and June are the peak seasons for the clinic, when the beginning of the agricultural season causes workers to get stung by cleaning up areas of grassland and scrub. Sometimes, a dozen patients arrive every day, some even from the other side of the border, in neighboring Cameroon, nearly 200 km away.
Those who arrive at the clinic are treated with basic anti-venoms, which are offered for free and will generally see recovery within a few days. Still, many victims choose to stay at home, relying on traditional remedies such as rubbing the wound with bark or reducing it to try to "bleed" the poison.
Emmanuel Samuel, 12, was bitten by a carpeted viper four nights ago while playing. The creature hooked to her foot with her fangs, which probably meant that she was delivering a full dose of venom, but during the first 12 hours her grandmother treated him by feeding her the garlic paste.
"Fortunately, a member of our staff lives in his village and when they found out, they told him to come here right away," said Dr. Muhammad as he examined Emmanuel's leg. Although the swelling has decreased, it is covered with vesicles and lesions, while the remaining skin is shiny and brittle, like a protective film.
"By the time he arrived here, he was barely able to speak," adds Dr. Muhammad. "If he had stayed home, he would be dead."
In 2017, the Kaltungo clinic treated about 4,400 patients, about one percent of whom died, said Professor Abdulrazaq Habib, another doctor at the clinic.
From time to time, the supply of antivenom also poses logistical problems. Dr. Muhummad said that a shortage of more than fifteen days last year had left several patients being turned away, some of whom are presumed dead.
Locals could also do more education about the risks associated with using traditional medicine: "We tell them that herbal remedies are useless, but people do not always listen," he says.
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