Centre forms panel to study WHO report on deaths of 66 Gambian children

Mariama Kuyateh, holds up a picture of her late son Musa who died from acute kidney failure, in Banjul on October 10. Credit: AFP Photo

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday formed an expert panel to review the materials that it has received from the World Health Organisation in connection with the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia after consuming cough syrups made by a Haryana-based company.

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The World Health Organisation has shared the Certificate of Analysis of the sampled products and summary of the adverse events with the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation. The UN health agency has also informed that it would take the investigation forward. The ministry has sought more documents from the global body.

Examining and analysing the adverse event reports, causal relationship and all other details shared by the WHO, the four-member expert panel would advise the Drugs Controller General of India on the future course of action, the ministry said in a statement.

The panel members are former AIIMS professor Y K Gupta who is the vice chairperson of the Standing National Committee on Medicine; Pragya D Yadav, scientist and group leader from National Institute of Virology, Pune; Arti Bahl, Additional Director and head, Division of Epidemiology at the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi and A K Pradhan, a senior official from CDSCO.