More than seventy children have died due to acute kidney failure so far this year in Indonesia, a health ministry official in Jakarta revealed today, as a team of experts has begun an investigation into the soaring number of cases of children with severe nerve damage in the country.
This figure comes shortly after authorities in The Gambia reported nearly seventy deaths of children given paracetamol syrup for coughs and runny noses.
The World Health Organization (WHO) found that four syrups made by the Indian company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd, based in New Delhi, and sold in Zambia contained «unacceptably» high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, substances used as antifreezes that can cause death if swallowed.
Although officials of the Indonesian food agency assured that these products were not available on the market in the Southeast Asian country, they then announced that they were banning the use of the offending ingredients in all medicinal syrups for children.
According to Citi Nadia Tarmizi, a health ministry official, 189 cases of acute renal failure in children have been recorded in the country since January. The majority of them were under the age of five. 74 of them died.
«We haven't (found) the cause yet, we are investigating,» the official told Reuters news agency.
Last week, the Indonesian health authorities announced that a team of experts had been set up to investigate the rapidly increasing cases of severe kidney damage and acute kidney failure in children. The team consists of officials from the Ministry of Health, the paediatric association and the WHO.
The Ministry of Health says it is in contact with the Agency's experts investigating the cases in The Gambia.
In a letter from the ministry dated yesterday (Tuesday, October 18) and obtained by Reuters, it is ordered to collect from hospitals samples of all the preparations given by families to their children, in order to carry out urgent toxicological tests.
In the letter, the ministry said that the sale of all syrups for children will be suspended until further notice.
The Department of Health is expected to release more details later today.
