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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has assured Nigerians that it has taken appropriate measures to prevent the entry of four deadly paediatric cough syrups that had led to the death of 66 children in The Gambia.
On Sunday, NAFDAC issued an alert to the public on Public Alert No. 039/2022 on substandard (contaminated) paediatric cough syrups circulating in The Gambia.
The Agency said the alert has been widely circulated on the website and all social media handles and was also sent to all healthcare providers on their database as well as professional bodies and associations in the medicine supply chain.
The suspected medical products, namely, Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, were manufactured by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which had failed to provide guarantees about their safety.
NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, told journalists at a press conference in Abuja, on Tuesday, that the Agency was committed to protecting the health of Nigerians, hence it will not compromise in its regulatory responsibilities.
She said: “As a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Programme on International Drug Monitoring (IDM), and our active participation in the member state mechanism on substandard and falsified medical products, NAFDAC will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that these products do not find their way into Nigeria and cause harm to our people.”
She, however, made reference to the WHO report in which laboratory analysis of samples of the four products confirmed that they contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants.
She explained that diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are restricted chemicals which are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. “These chemicals are closely related in chemical structure to propylene glycol which is the right vehicle for use in the manufacture of paediatric syrups.
“Poor quality control might have led to non-detection of these dangerous by-products and hence the fatality we have on our hands in The Gambia.”
Meanwhile, the NAFDAC boss said she had burst the activities of online fraudsters who are swindling Nigerians using her name and photographs (impostors) on different social media platforms.
She said the impostors have been asking for money from people in exchange for employment and other favours. “This is a security breach,” she said.
She, thus, asked Nigerians to be wary of such people who have mastered the art of fraud in cyberspace defrauding people through various social media platforms.
She maintained that neither NAFDAC nor its Director General will request for gratification to carry out its mandate, and as a result of the development, the social media accounts of the Director General will be deactivated until further notice.
