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Gambia in ‘advanced’ stage of legal action against Indian toxic cough syrup maker

Published

1 year ago

July 22, 2023

The Gambian government has revealed that it is in a “far advanced” stage of legal action against Indian drugmaker, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, producers of a cough syrup that killed scores of children last year.

The legal battle will also include local distributors of the toxic cough syrups.

Gambia’s government said in the statement that it was pursuing potential redress through engagement with the Government of India and “is currently benefiting from legal advice from a top-tier international law firm.”

The World Bank is also assisting the Gambia in the construction of a laboratory. “There is an urgent need for a quality control laboratory to conduct proper testing on all medications and related items imported into the nation,” the statement read.

Barely a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert over four brands of cough syrups, saying they could be linked to acute kidney damage, reports emerged of deaths of babies after the use of some of the WHO-marked drugs.

Last year, acute renal damage claimed at least 70 children in the Gambia, the majority of whom were under 5 years old. The deaths, according to a government task group that looked into them, were “a direct result” of tainted Indian-imported cough and cold medicines.

Meanwhile, the families of 20 of the children have already sued the two companies, as well as Gambian authorities, and have rejected monetary compensation. Last year, the chairperson of the grieving families, Ebrima Sanyang said the $20,000 (£17,000) offered by the Ministry of Gender was “an insult to the victims”.

In the meantime, Indian pharmaceutical company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals has denied any wrongdoing, while the Indian government claims tests on the drugs revealed they were not tainted.

Related Topics:Cough Syrup Featured Gambia Indian Pharmaceutical

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

3 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.