1. 4 member committee to probe WHO report on contaminated syrup supplied by Maiden Pharma
The Government of India on 12 October 2022 has set up a four-member expert committee to investigate the report sent by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the deaths of 66 children in Gambia due to consumption of cough syrups from Sonipat-based Company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited.
The government has already suspended the production of cough syrup by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd after the report of the WHO.
The committee consists of Dr YK Gupta, Vice Chairperson, Standing National Committee on Medicines ; Dr Pragya Yadav, ICMR -National Institute of Virology(NIV), Pune; Dr Arti Bahl, Division of epidemiology, National Center for Disease Control(NCDC), New Delhi and AK Pradhan, JDC(I), CDSCO(Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation).
According to the reports, an American company Atlantic Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd which has permission to export medicines to Gambia, ordered combined syrup from Maiden Pharmaceuticals limited.
The cough syrup was subsequently found contaminated by the WHO leading to the death of children in Gambia.
Republic of Gambia
It is a West African situated along the Atlantic Ocean.
The country derives its name from the river Gambia.
Capital: Banjul
Currency: Dalasi
President: Adama Barrow
World Health Organisation (WHO)
- The World Health Organisation is a specialised agency of the United Nations which was founded on 7 April, 1948.
- Headquarters of WHO : Geneva, Switzerland
- Director General of WHO: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia.
