National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday confirmed that 51 babies died for ingesting ‘My Pikin’ teething mixture nationwide. Acting Director General of the agency, Mrs.
Doris Amlai, made the revelation while addressing a press conference in Lagos.
She said 51 babies were confirmed dead “as at last week”, adding that the agency has also mopped up 5,334 units (100mls) from 2000 sales outlets visited all over the nation including Kaduna, Aba and Lagos. She said that Barewa Pharmaceuticals, the laboratory which produced the product, remained closed.
She added that the agency has carried out an analysis of other brands of paracetamol syrup in the market, adding “We can now pronounce that registered paracetamol syrups are safe for use”.
As for the devastating syrup, Amlai said that the agency had purchased and distributed antidote (fomepizole) to the dreaded syrup for distribution to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital(ABUTH), University College Teaching Hospital(UCH), University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital(UNIPORTTH), University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital(UNIMAIDTH), other teaching hospitals and federal medical centres across the nation.
She said that the fight against fake medicine, unwholesome foods and other substandard regulated products in Nigeria “is not over”.
“NAFDAC is fully determined to continue the fight to finish”, she said, adding that it is a fight that requires the support of all Nigerians.
Deputy Director in charge of Security of NAFDAC numbers, Dr. Adeline Osakwe, noted that the agency was aware that her numbers are not full-proof, adding that the responsibility of security of products is a collective responsibility and not that of the agency alone. This notwithstanding, NAFDAC, she said, has in the past 18 months, been working on enhancing security features of her numbers, adding that the agency will continue to work until it becomes impossible for crooks to fake them.
Meanwhile, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday approved the appointment of Dr. Paul Orhii as the Director-General of the agency.
Orhii, who has a Doctorate Degree in Neuro-Pharmacology, takes over from Mrs. Dora Akunyili who was recently appointed Minister of Information and Communications.
Yar’Adua also appointed Senator Polycarp Nwite as his Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters. Nwite, who hails from Ebonyi State, was a member of the Constituent Assembly between 1988 and 1989 and served as a Senator from 1992 to 1993.