4 hours ago
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The World Health Organization has issued a global alert on cough medicines that could be linked – according to the organization – to the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia.
These drugs “are likely to be associated with acute kidney injury and the deaths of 66 children,” the organization added.
The World Health Organization added that the products were made by an Indian company, Medicin Pharmaceutical, but made no guarantees as to their safety.
The BBC has reached out to the company for comment but has not yet responded.
But India’s health ministry said it had launched an investigation after the organization’s announcement.
The Indian government says it has asked the World Health Organization to share its evidence on the link between drugs and infant deaths.
The controversy is seen as a severe blow to India’s image as the “world’s pharmacy” supplying medicines to all continents.
The World Health Organization said the medicines are Promethazine Oral Solution, Covixmalin Children’s Cough Syrup, Makov’s Children’s Cough Syrup, and Magrib Cough Syrup.
In the warning posted on its website, the World Health Organization added that the four products were found in Gambia, but “may have been distributed through informal markets to other countries or regions.”
And he warned that its use could cause serious injury or death, especially among children.
The WHO intervention came after medical authorities in Gambia, a popular tourist destination, discovered an increase in cases of acute kidney injury among children under five in late July.
The Gambian government has since stopped using all acetaminophen drinks, urging people to use the tablets instead.
The World Health Organization said laboratory analyzes of product samples “confirm that they contain unacceptable amounts of ethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which are contaminants.”
He added that these toxic substances may include “abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to urinate, headache, altered mental status and acute kidney damage that can lead to death.”
Gambian health officials said last month that dozens of children had died, without giving an exact figure.
Speaking in Geneva on Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said: “The loss of these children’s lives is heartbreaking for their families.”
The organization indicated that the Central Medicines Control Authority in India indicated that the manufacturer may have supplied the contaminated drugs only to The Gambia, according to Agence France-Presse, citing an email from the UN health agency.
But the World Health Organization said “world exposure” to these drugs was possible because “the manufacturer may have used the same contaminant in other products and distributed them locally or exported,” the agency said.
