Gambia: 'Cause of AKI Not Known, Kids Die Without Consuming Suspected Drugs'

1 November 2022
The Point (Banjul)
By Sankulleh Gibril Janko

The Medicine Control Agency (MCA) says the real cause of the Acute Kidney Injury cases linked to the deaths of at least 70 children in The Gambia is still unknown. The agency claims some of the children died without consuming the suspected drugs while some of the dead children consumed drugs that are safe to use.

This was confirmed by Tijan Jallow of the Medicine Control Agency and a member of the Task Force investigating the cause of the AKI, during a press conference at the National Medical Store in Kotu on Monday.

Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited manufactured the suspected contaminated drugs that are linked to the deaths of the 70 children.

However, this is still subject to investigation as the true cause of the outbreak that whipped the Gambia's health sector is yet to be confirmed.

"We haven't concluded yet it is the medicine that caused it or it is this microorganism that have caused it," (sic), Tihjan Jallow told the media.

"We are working on causality assessment as we speak now. The kids that were subjected to medication, we are trying to establish each of the kids which medication they took."

He stressed: "And as I made it clear, good number of kids died without taking any medications. Other kids died, the medication that they took, we have tested them and they are good."

Quizzed why a good number of children died during this period without taking any medication, Mr. Jallow suggested it could be due to their underlying illnesses.

"No parent will subject their kids to any medication if they are not having any underlying conditions," he said.

He went on: "As per the evidence we have so far, a good number of kids died. They didn't take any medication. Also a good number of kids died the medication they took. We tested them and they are okay. So meaning they already have an underlying condition."

"There is something in public health we call confounder, it may not be the underlying cause of the disease but it can be the catalyst to the death of that person."

The total number of Acute Kidney Injury related deaths currently stands at 70. A total number of Acute Kidney Injury cases stand at 82 and 50 of them are boys while 32 are girls.

Accordingly, 12 of the 82 children have fully recovered from the Acute Kidney Injury according to the Health Ministry.

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