The four ‘contaminated’ and ‘substandard’ cough syrups that WHO has linked to an Indian manufacturer.
Thu 06 October 2022:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has linked the deaths of dozens of children in The Gambia to a cough syrup manufactured in India, as per two people in India’s health ministry, according to Reuters.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday that the UN agency was working with India’s drug regulator and New Delhi-based cough syrup manufacturer Maiden Pharmaceuticals to investigate the deaths from acute kidney injuries.
The agency informed the Drugs Controller General of India of the deaths late last month, after which the regulator launched an investigation with state authorities in tandem with the WHO probe, the people said.
Maiden Pharmaceuticals manufactured and exported the syrup only to the West African nation, the people said.
Calls from Reuters to a listed telephone number for Maiden Pharmaceuticals went unanswered, as did an emailed request for comment. Calls to the Drugs Controller General of India outside of office hours also went unanswered.
The Indian government has asked the WHO to share its report linking the deaths to the cough syrup and has stated that it will take “all required steps in the matter,” according to officials.
WHO issued a medical product alert
The products may have been distributed elsewhere through informal markets, but had so far only been identified in The Gambia, the WHO said in its alert.
The alert covers four products – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
Lab analysis confirmed “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic when consumed, the WHO said. The Gambia’s government said last month it has also been investigating the deaths, as a spike in cases of acute kidney injury among children under the age of five was detected in late July.
Medical officers in The Gambia raised the alarm in July, after several children began falling ill with kidney problems three to five days after taking a locally sold paracetamol syrup. By August, 28 had died, but health authorities said the toll would likely rise. Now 66 are dead, WHO said on Wednesday.
The deaths have shaken the tiny West African nation, which is already dealing with multiple health emergencies including measles and malaria.
Maiden Pharmaceuticals manufactures medicines at its facilities in India, which it then sells domestically, as well as exporting it to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to its website.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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