• Indonesia has stopped selling all syrup and liquid medications.
•  206 cases of acute renal injuries in children.
• The syrups being used in The Gambia are not available there.

Indonesia has stopped selling all syrup and liquid medications after following the deaths of over 100 children and an unexplained rise in severe renal damage.

The country’s Health Ministry on Wednesday imposed a ban that will last until authorities finish looking into unlicensed medical syrups that may contain harmful substances.

According to Mohammad Syahril, a spokesman for the health ministry, 206 cases of acute renal injuries in children, most of them were under the age of 6, and 99 deaths were being looked into.

As a precaution, the ministry has asked health workers in health facilities not to prescribe liquid medicine or syrup temporarily,” he said. “We also ask that drug stores temporarily stop all sales of non-prescription liquid medicine or syrup until our investigations are completed.”

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The World Health Organization (WHO) placed the restriction after discovering a connection between four cough syrups made in India and up to 70 infants who died in The Gambia, West Africa, from acute kidney failure. Indian authorities closed down a New Delhi plant that produced the medications earlier this month.

WHO suspects that Promethazine oral solution, Kofexmalin baby cough syrup, Makoff baby cough syrup, and Magrip N cold syrup all contained “unacceptable amounts” of chemicals that could harm consumers’ brains, lungs, livers, and kidneys. These four syrups were produced by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited.

According to Indonesia’s food and pharmaceuticals regulator, the syrups being used in The Gambia are not available there.

However, on Thursday, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin reported that syrups found in the homes of some young patients contained ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, which are typically found in items like antifreeze, paints, plastics, and cosmetics.

“(The chemicals) should not have been present,” Budi said.

The number of cases of acute kidney failure may be more than has been reported, he continued, and his ministry was taking a cautious stance by forbidding the sale of any syrups.