• The Gambia’s President Adama Barrow has suspended the licence of the alleged importer and launched a police inquiry.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global notice.
•  Four cough syrups may be responsible for 66 deaths-WHO warns.

Four kinds of imported cough syrup have been linked to the deaths of 66 children, and police in The Gambia have begun an inquiry.

According to the president’s office, senior figures from the Medicine Control Agency and the importers have been summoned for interrogation.

The probe would “leave no stone unturned,” according to President Adama Barrow.

Gambians are upset about what happened and trying to figure out who is to blame.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global notice on the four cough syrups on Wednesday, cautioning that they may be responsible for the children’s deaths in July, August, and September as well as severe renal damage.

Parents who lost children have told the BBC how the syrups caused their kids to lose the ability to urinate. Attempts to save their lives as their health deteriorated were unsuccessful.

The items were made by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, and included Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup. The WHO claimed that Maiden Pharmaceuticals had failed to ensure the products’ safety.

The situation is being looked into by the Indian administration as well. A BBC request for comment has received no response from the company.

Red Cross volunteers and Gambian health officials are currently hunting for the syrups and other medications by going door to house, to markets and pharmacies, as well as in those locations.

A Red Cross representative told the BBC that more than 16,000 goods had so far been found and removed for disposal.

President Barrow apologised for the deaths and promised an investigation into “the source of the contaminated drugs” in his speech to the nation on Friday.

In addition to plans to study pertinent rules and regulations for imported drugs, he revealed plans to create a lab that can assess the safety of medications.

Some people questioned whether the authorities felt these deaths were uncommon because he added that “the child mortality figure of 66 is not at much variance with the recorded data for similar periods in the past.”

On Saturday night, the president made a stronger statement in response, suspending the licence of the alleged importer and announced the police inquiry.

Some of the parents who lost their kids have informed the BBC that they are thinking about suing the government on their own behalf.

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