Imported Cough Syrups Likely Culprit for Children's Deaths in Gambia, US CDC Reports

Due to its climate, Africa has widely spread infectious and parasitic diseases, which often lead to death unless they are treated with high-quality medication, yet, sometimes, medicines imported for that purpose and presumed to be effective only worsen the situation.

Toxic levels of diethylene and ethylene glycol in imported cough and paracetamol syrups are highly likely to be the cuplrit for acute kidney injury that has led to 70 children's deaths since June 2022, an investigation by Gambian scientists and the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed.

These contaminated medicines were first spotted in October last year when the World Health Organization warned about toxic levels of such substances in four cough syrups produced by India's Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. However, Maiden denies its drugs might be at fault for the fatalities, saying the syrups showed no contamination when they were tested.

There have been numerous poisonings linked to diethylene and ethylene glycol in the past in countries such as Haiti and Nigeria, but the report says this is the first known case when imported medicines were to blame rather than domestically developed drugs.

"This likely poisoning event highlights the potential public health risks posed by the inadequate quality management of pharmaceutical exports," the report said.

Not only did the imported syrups trigger cases of poisoning in Gambia, but they also caused 201 deaths in Indonesia and 19 in Uzbekistan.

However, the imported contaminated syrup debacle is just one of the headaches Africa is experiencing as far as the issue of medication goes. The problem of a huge number of counterfeit drugs is another serious dilemma plaguing the continent.

Last month, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issued a report stating that fake medicines lead to 500,000 fatalities in Africa annually.

As the report says, from January 2017 to December 2021, there were about 605 tons of counterfeit medical products seized by the authorities in West Africa alone.

The gap between the demand and supply of real medicines to remedy diseases has reportedly become one of the key reasons for trafficking counterfeit medicines, the UNODC noted.