The World Health Organisation said Wednesday, that deaths of dozens of children in Gambia from kidney injuries may be linked to contaminated cough and cold syrups made by an Indian drug manufacturer, Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told pressmen that the U.N. agency was investigating along with Indian regulators and the New Delhi-based drugmaker.
India’s health ministry and the Drugs Controller General of the country are yet to respond to a request for comment.
Against this backdrop, the WHO issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharmaceuticals goods from the market. The products may have been distributed elsewhere through informal markets but had so far only been identified in Gambia, the WHO said in its alert.
The alert covers four products: Promethazine Oral Solution, Magrip N Cold Syrup, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, and Makoff Baby Cough Syrup.
Lab analysis confirmed toxic level of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be harmful when consumed, the WHO said. Gambia’s government said last month that it had also been investigating the deaths, as a spike in cases of acute kidney injury among children younger than 5 was detected in late July.
Several children in Gambia 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 Wednesday.
The deaths have shaken the tiny West African nation, which is also dealing with multiple health emergencies, including measles and malaria.
Maiden Pharmaceuticals manufactures medicines at its facilities in India, which it sells domestically as well as exporting them to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.