Jakarta, Indonesia
CNN
—
Indonesia has halted the sale of all syrup and liquid medicines following the deaths of almost 100 kids and an unexplained spike in circumstances of acute kidney accidents.
The ban, introduced by the nation’s Health Ministry on Wednesday, will stay till authorities full an investigation into unregistered medical syrups suspected of containing poisonous components.
Health Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril stated 99 deaths and 206 circumstances of acute kidney accidents in kids, principally underneath the age of 6, have been being investigated.
“As a precaution, the ministry has asked health workers in health facilities not to prescribe liquid medicine or syrup temporarily,” he stated. “We also ask that drug stores temporarily stop all sales of non-prescription liquid medicine or syrup until our investigations are completed.”
The ban comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) linked 4 Indian-made cough syrups to the deaths of as much as 70 kids struggling acute kidney failure in The Gambia, West Africa. Earlier this month Indian authorities shut down a manufacturing facility in New Delhi the place the medicines have been made.
WHO suspects that 4 of the syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited – Promethazine oral answer, Kofexmalin child cough syrup, Makoff child cough syrup and Magrip N chilly syrup – contained “unacceptable amounts” of chemical compounds that would harm the brains, lungs, livers and kidneys of those that take them.
The syrups being utilized in The Gambia weren’t accessible in Indonesia, based on the Southeast Asian nation’s meals and medicines company.
However, on Thursday, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – that are extra often present in merchandise like antifreeze, paints, plastics and cosmetics – had been detected in syrups discovered within the houses of some little one sufferers.
“(The chemicals) should not have been present,” Budi stated.
He added that the variety of acute kidney failure circumstances could possibly be increased than reported and his ministry was taking a conservative method by banning the sale of all syrups.
