There have been 168 child deaths recorded between Indonesia and Gamba.
Some cough syrups available in Indonesia contained ingredients linked to fatal acute kidney injury in children. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said 99 deaths and 206 cases of acute kidney injury in children, mostly under 6, were being investigated.
“As a precaution, the ministry has asked health workers in health facilities not to prescribe liquid medicines or syrups temporarily,” he said. “We are also asking that pharmacies temporarily stop all sales of over-the-counter liquid medications or syrups until our investigations are complete.”
Indonesia has temporarily banned the sale of all syrup-based medicines and has been keeping a close eye on paracetamol syrups containing toxic diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol that have been used to treat fever in children.
The ban comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) linked four cough syrups made in India to the deaths of up to 70 children suffering from acute kidney failure in Gambia, West Africa.
The WHO suspects that four of the syrups manufactured by the company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited (promethazine oral solution, Kofexmalin infant cough syrup, Makoff infant cough syrup and Magrip N cold syrup) contained “unacceptable amounts” of chemicals that could harm the brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys of children who took them.
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