The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that measures have been put at various ports of entry into the country to prevent contaminated cough syrups.
Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director-General at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
She said this move came after four cough syrups (Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup) killed 66 children in the Gambia.
The syrups were said to have been manufactured by an Indian company named Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which had failed to provide guarantees about the safety of the cough syrups.
She said that NAFDAC had activated its internal surveillance mechanisms to wipe out these products from the supply chain pipeline if they were ever found.
Adeyeye said that as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) programme on International drug monitoring, NAFDAC would be steadfast in ensuring that these products did not cause harm to Nigerians.
“Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are restricted chemicals which are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal.
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“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 products and hence the fatality we have on our hands in Gambia,” she said.
She also appealed to importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to exert vigilance within the supply chain to dodge importation, distribution, sales and use of the named substandard cough syrups.
Adeyeye also said all medical products must be obtained from authorised/licensed suppliers, adding that citizens should carefully check the product’s authenticity and physical condition.
