Death by Cough Mixture

India is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical players supplying key drugs to many countries, particularly in the developing world, including 60 percent of the world’s vaccines. 

 

But recent cough syrup-related deaths are greatly damaging its reputation. 

 

Last year, Indian-made cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 66 children in Gambia. After a Gambian parliamentary enquiry and a World Health Organization investigation, the WHO announced on October 05, 2022, that four cough syrups made by Sonepat, Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, were “contaminated” and “substandard”. 

 

In December, the Uzbekistan health ministry reported that 18 children in the country had also died from side effects of cough syrup produced by an Indian pharmaceutical firm, Marion Biotech based in Uttar Pradesh. The WHO issued a warning against two of the company’s cough syrups – and said that laboratory analysis showed both products contained “unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol", chemicals often meant for industrial use. 

 

Gambia and Uzbekistan are not random incidents. In the past, cough syrups have been linked to other mass poisonings of children in India as well as other countries. 

 

This deadly mess can be attributed to India’s longstanding laxness in regulating its booming pharmaceutical industry. 

 

On June 20, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya came out to declare there is zero tolerance on spurious medicines. He promised an extensive risk-based investigation to ensure the quality of Indian medicines. 

 

And yesterday, the country’s health ministry admitted that they found multiple deficiencies among drugmakers following wide-ranging inspections across the industry, including a lack of raw materials testing. 

 

Indian authorities had stepped up scrutiny of drugmakers in recent months after some cough syrups made in the country were linked to the deaths of at least 95 children overseas. (There was no mention of fatalities in India itself). 

 

The said ministry announced that risk-based inspections of 162 factories and 14 public laboratories found issues including “poor documentation, lack of process and analytical validations, absence of self-assessment, absence of quality failure investigation, (and) absence of internal product quality review”. 

 

They also flagged an absence of raw materials testing, a lack of measures to avoid cross-contamination, an absence of professionally qualified employees, and faulty design of manufacturing and testing areas. 

 

Since then, the government have ordered four drugmakers to cease production of the cough syrups.

Todate, the WHO have red-flagged seven contaminated India-manufactured cough syrups: Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, Magrip N Cold Syrup, AMBRONOL syrup, DOK-1 Max syrup, and Guaifenesin. Four of these have been identified in Gambia, two in Uzbekistan, and one in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

The World Loses Sight of the Paris Climate Accord

None of the world's major economies – including the entire G20 – have a climate plan that meets their obligations under the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to an analysis published Wednesday, despite scientists' warning that deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are needed now.

The unflagging increase in greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is behind the phenomena of global warming and climate change. A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming. 

The watchdog Climate Action Tracker analyzed the policies of 36 countries, as well as the 27-nation European Union, and found that all major economies were off track to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The countries together make up 80% of the world's emissions. 

The analysis also included some low-emissions countries, and guess what? Gambia was the only nation among all 37 to be "1.5 compatible". As the study only included a few smaller emitters, it's possible there are other developing countries in the world on track as well. 

Under the 2015 Paris accord, more than 190 countries agreed to limit the increase in global temperatures to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures – ideally to 1.5 degrees. 

Scientists have said 2 degrees is a critical threshold for some of the Earth's ecosystems, and is one that would also trigger more catastrophic extreme weather events. 

The report comes less than two months ahead of UN-brokered international climate talks in Glasgow, known as COP26. The event's president, British MP Alok Sharma, has said he hopes to "keep 1.5 alive" as a global warming limit. 

It needs to be emphasized that cutting emissions is a non-negotiable part of the Paris Accord. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap solar radiation in the atmosphere, just like glass traps heat in a greenhouse. This causes temperatures to rise and drives more extreme weather, ice melt, sea level rise and ocean acidification. 

To keep the warming under 1.5 degrees, the world needs to reach net zero by 2050, a landmark UN climate science report published in August showed. 

Alas, nearly all of the countries have not done anything really significant to make this happen! World leaders make empty talk as the earth is dying!

200,000 Coronavirus Cases in Africa

The total number of coronavirus cases in Africa passed 200,000 yesterday, according to the World Health Organization’s office for the region. The continent had added 100,000 cases in eighteen days. 

According to the latest update by the UN health agency, 201,157 people have tested positive for the virus across the 54 countries in Africa, of whom 90,374 have recovered and 5,486 have died, the UN health agency said. 

The Top 7 African countries for confirmed cases are still the same as the list I had put out in my May 23 post (“The Covid-19 Situation in Africa”) – just that there has been a reshuffle in their positions, Nos. 3 to 7:

BTW, these seven countries constitute 72.3% of Africa’s total (or 1.9% of cases worldwide). 

Even for fatalities – where the Top 7 countries make up 81.8% of Africa’s total (or 1.1% of deaths worldwide) – it's the same seven countries as I last reported in May – except for a change in positions, Nos. 2 to 7. 

And just to compare with the Bottom 7 (i.e. the Least Affected countries):

The Covid-19 Situation in Africa

More than three months have lapsed since Egypt became the first country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case. Since then, the outbreak has reached every nation on the continent of 1.2 billion people – with 100,666 confirmed cases and 3,105 deaths on Friday, according to Africa CDC. 

No doubt Africa recorded just a wee fraction of the world's coronavirus cases – a mere 1.9%. 

Also WHO modelling has predicted that Covid-19 would move more slowly through Africa than elsewhere. It's very comforting to know, that’s for sure.

Still, the fact remains that the virus is raging in pockets of the continent. 

And it has been hit hard by the economic fallout from global trade disruptions, falling oil and commodities prices and the lockdowns deployed to fight the disease's spread. That can be just as hurting. 

I read that the presidents of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone on Tuesday are already complaining that wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continent's needs as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. 

But it’s not only Africa that is affected – but everywhere too.

Already, the global economy is shrinking by around 5%. According to World Bank estimates, up to 60 million people could be pushed below the poverty line in their latest apocalyptic prediction. 

World Bank president David Malpass (right) said they have so far loaned money for emergency programs in 100 countries, accounting for about 70% of the world’s population, in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

He said the money would “reinforce healthcare systems” as well as pay for medical equipment and supplies.

Many countries' economies are already in dire straits.