The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that measures have been put at various ports of entry into the country to prevent contaminated cough syrups.

NAFDAC director-general Mojisola Adeyeye disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference.

On Sunday, the agency issued an alert about some contaminated cough syrups circulating in the Gambia. The syrups were identified as Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, manufactured by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, the NAFDAC boss said the agency had put appropriate measures at the various ports of entry to curtail the entry of these syrups into Nigeria.

Mrs Adeyeye said NAFDAC had activated its internal surveillance mechanisms to mop up these products from the supply chain pipeline if they were found.

She added that as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) programme on international drug monitoring, NAFDAC would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that these products did not cause harm to Nigerians.

The cough syrups had killed 66 children in the Gambia, and interviews with the bereaved parents by health authorities and law enforcement agencies revealed how the children could not pass urine after taking the syrups.

“Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are restricted chemicals which are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. These chemicals are closely related in chemical structure to propylene glycol, which is the right vehicle for use in the manufacture of paediatric syrups,” explained the NAFDAC head honcho. “Poor quality control might have led to non-detection of these dangerous products and hence the fatality we have on our hands in Gambia.”

According to her, the agency did not register the four cough syrups and called on Nigerians to be cautious.

She also appealed to importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to exercise vigilance within the supply chain to avoid importation, distribution, sales and use of substandard cough syrups.

(NAN)