The World Health Organisation (WHO), has appealed to countries to conduct more surveillance following a reported death of over 300 children from the use of contiminated cough syrups in three countries.

The world health agency on October 5, 2022, had issued a medical product alert which focused on the Gambia regarding four Indian products, Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
The alert came following the death of over 60 children in the West African country after consuming the cough syrups.

Again in November 2022, the WHO also issued another warning focused on Indonesia concerning eight products including Termorex syrup (batch AUG22A06 only), Flurin DMP syrup, Unibebi Cough Syrup, Unibebi Demam Paracetamol Drops, Unibebi Demam Paracetamol Syrup, Paracetamol Drops (manufactured by PT Afi Farma), Paracetamol Syrup (mint) (manufactured by PT Afi Farma), and Vipcol Syrup.

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In another warning contained in a statement on Wednesday, the UN agency said over the past four months, several countries had reported incidents of over-the-counter cough syrups for children, with “confirmed or suspected contamination with high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol.”

“Last year, WHO raised the alarm by issuing medical alerts in October focused on the Gambia, in November about Indonesia, and earlier this month regarding Uzbekistan.

“The cases in these three countries are associated with more than 300 deaths, but we know that at least seven countries have been affected. Most of the deaths have been in children under the age of five.

“WHO’s medical product alerts were rapidly disseminated to the national health authorities of all 194 WHO member states,” the warning said.

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Nigerians who subject themselves to long-hour fasting are doing so much harm to their kidneys.

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning on Monday.

Prof. Adeyeye, who attributed the high rate of kidney problems in Nigeria to prolonged fasting by some religious adherents, insisted that those subjecting themselves to prolonged fasting on religious grounds must moderate the act.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC Warns Of Fake Augmentin In Circulation

She spoke in Abuja yesterday, while briefing the media on the breakthrough by her agency in tracking consignments of Tramadol and other pharmaceuticals to the Republic of Benin.

On the high rate of kidney problems in the country, she said  “Kidney failure, we are a very religious country- Muslims and Christians fast a lot and it is part of the kidney problem.

“Your body has to have homeomistatic balance, meaning that the water level in your body must be enough to make your organs to function.

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“Some people will fast for 10 or 20 days and drink only little water, the kidney is being punished. Now, if you put chemicals in it, it triples in exponential manner, it damages the kidney because the kidney doesn’t have water to dilute and filter.”

Adeyeye, who tasked Nigerians to fast but with common sense, added:  “I fast but with common sense. We have to fast with common sense, otherwise we will pay with our kidneys.”

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An RWJBarnabas Health facility in the United States of America, the Jersey City Medical Centre, has appointed Ijeoma Akunyili, as the new Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

Effective 2 January, Ms Akunyili, the first daughter of the late Dora Akunyili, a former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is the first African American medical professional to serve in that role, according to a statement released on the official website of the medical centre on Wednesday.

In his remark, the MD, Executive Vice President/Chief Medical and Quality Officer at RWJBarnabas Health, Andy Anderson, said “her experience managing multi-speciality physician groups in integrated health care systems will help support Jersey City Medical Centre in providing comprehensive health care throughout the community,”

Also in the statement, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Centre, Michael Prilutsky, said Ms Akunyili “has a wealth of experience and knowledge, and as our Chief Medical Officer, we look forward to creating a world-class experience for every patient at Jersey City Medical Center”.

“I am confident that Hudson County will benefit in a great way from her leadership, and that her presence will have a tremendous impact,” he added.

Giving a breakdown of her achievements, the US hospital noted in the statement that Ms Akunyili served as the Regional Medical Director for TeamHealth, Northeast Group, where she had strategic, operational, and clinical oversight of nearly 20 emergency departments, critical care, and hospitalist service lines in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.

It added that she led an unprecedented fourfold expansion of service lines with a specific focus on medical services and access to care for underserved populations, and previously served as the chair of emergency medicine at Waterbury Hospital, a Level II trauma teaching hospital.

She was awarded the 2019 Medical Director of the Year Award for the impressive turnaround of the Waterbury Hospital Emergency Department.

It added that Ms Akunyili has vast leadership and advocacy experience and is currently serving as the President of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians (CCEP), where she also served for several years on the board of directors.

READ ALSO: Gunmen Kill Husband Of Dora Akunyili

She was an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and she is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale University.

Ms Akunyili was quoted as saying “I am grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to serving the residents of Hudson County and continuing to provide safe, innovative, efficient, and equitable care.

“It is a true privilege to lead the clinical effort at Jersey City Medical Center and to create sustainable health outcomes for our community.”

Ms Akunyili graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania and attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She completed her emergency medicine residency at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

She earned an MPA in international development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her mother, the late Dora Akunyili served NAFDAC from 2001 to 2008. She was later appointed Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communications.

She died in 2014 after a two-year battle with cancer.

Jersey City Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, is “healing, enhancing, and investing in Hudson County. It is a comprehensive full-service acute and sub-acute care 348-bed teaching hospital.”

The hospital is a not-for-profit health institution and the medical centre is a state-designated Level II Regional Trauma Center with close to 16,000 admissions and over 80,000 Emergency Department visits annually. The hospital’s speciality services include women’s health, orthopaedics, heart and vascular care, and behavioural health.

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