The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on Wednesday regarding four paediatric syrups that may be to blame for the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia.
WHO claims that substandard medical products are "out of specification" since they don't fulfil their quality standards or specifications. Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup are the four products mentioned.
Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited produces all four of these products in Haryana. According to its website, the corporation produces pharmaceuticals at facilities in India, sells them domestically, and exports them to nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The claimed producer has not yet given WHO any assurances regarding the reliability and safety of these products.
Laboratory examination of samples from each of the four items reveals contaminants such as diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol at unacceptable amounts. These four products have so far only been found in The Gambia, but they may have travelled through informal markets to other nations or areas, WHO added in the alert statement.
The agency claims that ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol are fatally harmful to humans when consumed. Abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, mental confusion, and acute renal injury are some of the negative consequences that might occur.
WHO has asked that these four products are not be used until they have been examined by the relevant national regulatory agencies. Additionally, the organisation has asked for increased surveillance of nations' and regions' supply networks.
The deaths have shocked the small West African country, which is already coping with a number of medical crises, including measles and malaria, according to Reuters.
When some kids in the Gambia started developing renal problems three to five days after consuming a paracetamol syrup that was sold locally, medical professionals there raised the alarm in July. 28 people had passed away as of August, but health officials predicted the number would rise. According to the WHO, 66 people have passed away.
