100 children lost their lives by drinking syrup in this country sale banned in a hurry

The Indonesian government on Wednesday announced a ban on the prescription and over-the-counter sale of all syrups and liquid drugs. Nearly 100 children have died this year due to kidney injury.

The ban comes after the South East Asian country's health authorities looked into the sharp rise since January in the number of children's deaths from acute kidney injury (AKI).

It is known that earlier in The Gambia, about 70 children died after drinking syrup of an Indian company, after which the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a medical alert. The Indonesian Food and Drug Agency said the syrups imported into The Gambia were not in their country.

"To date, we have received 206 cases with 99 deaths from 20 provinces," health ministry spokesman Cyril Mansour said at a press conference. He further said that as a precaution, the ministry has asked all health workers in health facilities not to prescribe liquid medicine or syrup temporarily.

A ministry spokesperson said the increase in AKI cases started in January this year and accelerated further from the end of August. "Since the end of August 2022, the ministry and the Pediatrician Association have received reports of increasing cases of kidney injury," he said.

Most of the cases reported in Indonesia involve children under the age of 18, mainly children under the age of five. Before the recent hike, the ministry usually saw one or two cases of AKI in a month.