Scorpion Sting Deaths in Morocco Highlight Critical Antivenom Shortage

Due to the lack of anti-venom serum in the health centers of Azilal, at the hospital in the commune of Takleft and at the regional hospital of Béni Mellal, a female baby eventually succumbed to a scorpion sting, reports the daily Assabah. Three other children have also recently died from scorpion stings, denounces Omar Aziad from civil society, who points the finger at the regional health delegation which fails to supply the hospital centers and provincial hospitals with antidotes.

"The provincial hospital of Azilal no longer accepts poisoning cases, because it does not have anti-venom serums even though the region is experiencing a proliferation of scorpions and snakes during this heat wave period," says Aziad, stressing that "the inhabitants of the province of Azilal do not enjoy their rights to human dignity, because the delay in the treatment of scorpion stings and the transfer of victims to Beni Mellal endanger their lives, some patients take more than half a day to reach this hospital" which is increasingly congested by the many cases of poisoning from the provinces of the region.