Sola Ogundipe and Chioma Obinna
2 December 2008
As the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) continues the nationwide mopping up of existing bottles of 'My Pikin' Teething Mixture that allegedly led to the death of about 40 infants in various parts of the country, strong indications have emerged that the Agency will issue a comprehensive statement on the incident today.
Meanwhile, Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd., manufacturers of the drug, has denied any admission of error in purchasing the chemical used in manufacturing the drug.
This state of affairs came to light yesterday evening following a lengthy meeting at the Agency's headquarters in Abuja, in which top officials deliberated on latest developments concerning the 'My Pikin' saga.
Director General of the Agency, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who presided over the meeting, gave the hint in a telephone conversation with Vanguard. She said: "I just finished a meeting on the issue and we will issue a complete statement. We are on it, and until then, I don't want to talk."
Further, it was gathered that, as a means of effectively disseminating to the grassroots the dangers posed by use of the killer mixture, NAFDAC has engaged the services of traditional rulers to reach out to the rural populace. Series of meetings with the rulers were believed to have commenced nationwide during the weekend on the orders of the Director General.
As from Tuesday last week, when the 'My Pikin' story first broke, NAFDAC staff had moved to the local government areas and villages for the mopping up process of the killer teething mixture.
A reliable source in the Agency confirmed to our reporters that the meetings are going on side-by-side efforts to mop-up from circulation, the remaining bottles of the killer mixture. "We want to avoid discordant tunes, so we are putting our act together and linking up with our outstations across the country to come out with a unified position on the issue," the source declared.
At the Lagos University teaching Hospital, (LUTH) where 15 children died, investigations revealed that died, all of the remaining children on admission had been discharged. It was also gathered that there had been no new admissions at the health institution in connection with the killer teething mixture since the last two children were discharged last Friday.
However, authorities continued to maintain sealed lips over the incident at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, where 14 and two children died respectively.
Meanwhile, Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd., manufacturers of the drug has denied any admission of error in purchasing the chemical used in manufacturing the drug. In a telephone interview, the company lawyer, Mr. Ayo Kusamotu denied knowledge of such admission. Reacting to a newspaper report on the issue, Kusamotu he said: "I am not aware of any admission by the company of any error in purchasing the chemical.
Actually I am not aware at all about this information. I am the lawyer representing the company but I am not aware of any admission of error in purchase."
Speaking further, Kusamotu said: "The last time I spoke with the Chairman, he did not mention any such thing to me, but I'm going to see him again this evening and we'll see about that, but as far as I know, I'm not aware of any type of error in such purchase.
Honestly I am not. The company has not told me that they said so. They have not given me that information."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
