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Measures have been put in place at various ports of entry into the nation, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to prevent contaminated cough syrups.
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At a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, revealed this.
It should be noted that the agency had on Sunday issued Alert No. 040/2022 regarding some tainted cough syrups that were being sold in the Gambia.
Recalls that the syrups were known as Magrip N Cold Syrup, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Promethazine Oral Solution, and Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup.
The cough syrups were allegedly produced by Maiden Pharmaceuticals, an Indian business, but no assurances regarding their safety were given.
The head of NAFDAC claimed that the organization has implemented the necessary controls at the various ports of entry to prevent the introduction of these syrups into Nigeria.
She stated that if these goods were ever discovered, NAFDAC had triggered its internal surveillance measures to remove them from the supply chain pipeline.
Adeyeye stated that NAFDAC would do all possible to ensure that these products did not hurt Nigerians as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) program on International drug monitoring.
She said that 66 children in the Gambia had died as a result of cough syrups, and that bereaved parents there who had been interviewed by health officials and law enforcement organizations had described how their kids had become unable to pass urine as a result of the cough syrups.
Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are prohibited compounds that are lethal if taken by humans.
These substances share a similar chemical structure with propylene glycol, the ideal carrier for usage in the production of pediatric syrups.
Poor quality control may have prevented the discovery of these unsafe products, which contributed to the fatality that we are currently dealing with in the Gambia.
The NAFDAC director urged Nigerians to exercise caution, claiming that the four cough syrups in question had not been registered by the organization.
In order to prevent the importation, distribution, sales, and usage of subpar cough syrups, she also pleaded for importers, distributors, retailers, and consumers to exercise caution throughout the supply chain.
She asserts that all medical products must be purchased from authorized/licensed vendors and stresses the importance of thoroughly inspecting the product’s validity and physical state.
