A victims’ group has strongly criticised the claim made by the Gambia’s Medical Control Agency over the deaths of 70 children from acute kidney injury linked to contaminated cough syrups imported from India. 

Last week, Sheikh Tijan Jallow, a senior staff of the Medical Control Agency, told reporters that “not all the child deaths are caused by the Acute Kidney Injury”, insisting that 95% of the deaths were due to “bacteria and virus”.

However, his remarks outraged familes of the victims and scores of civil rights activists who are pushing for justice for the victims. 

The victims’ group, Justice for 66 AKI victims, said in a statement that “we do not think that it is ethical and proper for the Medical Control Agency (MCA) to issue statements publicly on the causes of AKI since this could serve to undermine and distract the current ongoing investigations.”

According to the group, MCA should rather provide it to the police and the National Assembly, adding that MCA are not mandated to investigate this crisis which took place under their watch.

“We the victims are hugely disturbed by the claim from MCA that 90 to 95% of AKI cases are caused by bacteria and different virus species. 

“We find this claim to be disingenuous which is only intended to shift attention away from the tainted syrups hence exonerate not only MCA, Pharmacy Council, and the Ministry of Health but also protect the Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd and the Indian Government as well,” the statement said.

“While we do recognise the unprecedented rainfalls this year and the widespread flooding in the country, we, the parents of AKI victims state that our children did not suffer from injuries to their kidneys because they drank contaminated water. 

“What we have noticed with our children was that they only got sick the moment we gave them these tainted syrups, which have been certified by the WHO as unsafe and substandard. 

“The symptoms our children suffered are the same symptoms that children in Indonesia also suffer which have all been linked to the four Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd syrups.

“We wish to therefore demand the MCA to withdraw this insensitive and false claim and from henceforth refrain from releasing public statements that hurt victims. 

“We are calling on the Minister of Health Dr. Amadou Lamin Samateh to protect the integrity of the AKI investigations by making sure that MCA does not interfere by creating conflicting and unsubstantiated narratives. 

“MCA has not been mandated by the President nor the National Assembly to investigate the AKI cases. For that matter, MCA should restrain itself by cooperating with the Inspector General of Police and the National Assembly in their investigations,” the statement added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba