The health authorities in Nigeria say they have begun mass production of a new antidote for snake venom.

The Health Minister, Tim Manakaya, told reporters in Abuja that the government had made two million dollars available to produce the drug, in collaboration with the British pharmaceutical company, Microfirm.

The minister said that the drug, discovered by Adusalami Nasidi, had been tested and endorsed by the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Liverpol.

He said that snake bite had become a serious problem in some areas of Nigeria, with those mostly affected being hunters, farmers and children.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service