The Food and Drugs Authority has said the Indian-produced cough syrups linked to over 60 deaths in The Gambia are not on the Ghanaian market.
The authority, however, said Ghanaians should report to it if the medication is sighted in Ghana.
The products are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited (Haryana, India).
The World Health Organization linked this medication to the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia and said it found “unacceptable” levels of toxins in the syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals.
The WHO said the children had died of kidney injuries.
The Indian government has since ordered an investigation into four cough syrups.
Though the Indian government has said it only exported these cough syrups to The Gambia so far, the WHO also warned that unwholesome medication may have been distributed to other countries through informal markets.
The FDA assured that “it has strengthened its market surveillance activities at the borders and across the country to identify and withdraw any of these products should they enter the Ghanaian market.”
“The FDA wishes to advice the general public to report all suspected falsified medicinal products to the FDA through the following contacts.”
For us, the development is worrying and it is about time the FDA tightens its market surveillance beyond the words.
Most of the time, such assurances of a secured market only ends up with the supposed products finding themselves on the market space even before we realise.
The issue is about life and death which means the FDA must sit up and really live up to its assurance in the face of this recent case.
Let’s move beyond the rhetoric and walk the talk
Source. Mypublisher24.com