At least, 25 children aged between four months and three years, have so far died in some parts of the country after taking an allegedly contaminated drug, MyPikin teething mixture.
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Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, Prof. Dora Akunyili
Our Correspondent
The suspected teething mixture
Our Correspondent
The suspected teething mixture.
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who disclosed this at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday, said 15 children died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba alone.
According to her, eight children died in the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, while two died at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
THE PUNCH had on Monday reported exclusively that LUTH was investigating the deaths of 10 children in the hospital. Doctors in the hospital suspected that the deaths were caused by the teething mixture.
Akunyili also told journalists that the premises of the manufacturer of the drug, Barewa Pharmaceutical Limited, in Akowonjo, a surburb of Lagos, had been shut by the agency.
Giving a breakdown of the morbidity associated with the incident, the director-general said that ”seven paediatric patients within the ages of one to three years were referred to the UCH from the hospitals in Lagos.”
According to her, ”the seven toddlers had renal failure linked to administration of MyPikin.” She added that two out of the seven died.
Akunyili, who is also a ministerial nominee, stated that 20 toddlers had been admitted to LUTH over the case in the last two weeks.
NAFDAC, according to her, had started mopping up all batches of the drug.
The director-general disclosed that the agency was informed about the incident by a pharmacist at ABUTH last Wednesday.
She said, “As at November 20, 2008, 11 cases were reported at ABUTH, out of which eight died and three still on admission.”
Akunyili added that an eight-month-old baby who was on admission at ABUTH had not been passing urine for the past six days.
She explained that fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and inability to pass urine were the symptoms of the children who had been taking the drug.
Akunyili stated that the agency gathered that LUTH was aware of the cases of fever, diarrhoea and kidney failure among the affected children since November 3, 2008.
She, however, lamented that except ABUTH, none of the hospitals where the incident occurred reported it to NAFDAC.
Akunyili said, “It is unfortunate that the first incident occurred over three weeks ago in LUTH and NAFDAC just found out about it yesterday (Monday) when we visited LUTH during the course of our investigation.
“This is a public emergency that requires the collective action and cooperation of all health care providers, the media and general public in averting the looming danger facing millions of our innocent children and parents.”
But at the news conference, Akunyili stated that the laboratory analysis of the suspected drug has revealed that a chemical, diethylene glycol, was the cause of the deaths.
According to an online medical dictionary, cancenweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgibin, diethylene glycol is an organic solvent chemically related to ethylene glycol.
Upon metabolic conversion, it becomes oxalic acid, which is toxic to the kidney.
Commenting on the incident, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof. Akin Osibogun, absolved the hospital of negligence for not reporting it to NAFDAC.
He stated that the hospital had reported the incident to its supervising ministry, the Federal Ministry of Health, which has an epidemiology department.
According to him, the epidemics that are reported to NAFDAC include those that are related to drugs.
The expert stated that such an illness could be caused by infections.
“It is still premature to say conclusively that it is caused by the teething mixture,” Osibogun said.
Also, the authorities of the UCH denied that any child died in the hospital as a result of consumption of the teething mixture.
The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr. Adeniyi Adenipekun said, “Nobody died in this hospital as a result of their consumption of any teething mixture.”
However, in Abuja, the Minister of Health, Dr. Mohammed Lawal, on Tuesday ordered investigations into the incident.
He said already about 33 cases had resulted in the deaths of children at LUTH, ABUTH and UCH.
The minister, who disclosed this at a news conference, said he had directed NAFDAC and experts from the ministry to investigate the incident and report back to him.
He also directed parents to stop using teething mixtures and syrups from now on, until government could ascertain their efficacy.
He said, ”So far, cases of 20 children between the ages of four months and two years were reported at LUTH with 14 deaths. One of the children was reported to have recovered and has been discharged, while two others were discharged against medical advice and there is no further information on the outcome of these two cases.”
According to him, as the number of cases increase, it was obvious that this was a likely epidemic.
Lawal urged parents to use paracetamol tablets instead of teething mixtures and syrups, especially the suspected MyPikin.
He said the ministry was collaborating with the World Health Organisation on the matter, while NAFDAC would find the root cause of the epidemic.
A similar incident had occurred in Nigeria in 1991 when a certain paracetamol brand killed many children. It was later traced to contamination of the product at a pharmacy.
Meanwhile, two Lagos-based lawyers, Ms. Carol Ajie and Mr. Festus Keyamo, on Tuesday, said the parents of the kids that died after using the alleged contaminated teething mixture could obtain legal redress.
They spoke in separate interviews with one of our correspondents in Lagos.
Ajie said, “The parents can sue the firm. They are perfectly in order to sue the firm for damages arising from professional negligence.”
Keyamo said the parents were entitled to four remedies.
He said, “The parents can sue for tort of negligence and demand damages from the firm for breaching its duty of care.
“They can also sue the errant firm under the Sale of Goods Law for selling unmerchantable product.
“The parents can further report to the law enforcement agencies like NAFDAC, Police, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria for the firm’s criminal responsibility under the Act of the agencies.“They can also come under Ubi jus ubi remedium. In other words, they can go to court and say that where there is a wrong, there is a remedy.”
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
FG sets up task force to tackle oil theft
The Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday set up a combined military task force to go after oil companies, smugglers, oil thieves and private jetty operators whose actions threatened national security.
It ordered the task force to investigate the operations of all oil and gas companies, arrest all those involved in security breaches, and close down all unlicensed private jetties.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, stated this while inaugurating the Inter-Agency Maritime Security Task Force on Acts of Illegalities in Nigerian Waters on behalf of the Federal Government in Abuja.
The task force, which comprised members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, State Security Service, Customs and others, was also mandated to deal ruthlessly with smugglers and gun- runners within the nation’s territorial waters.
Dike explained that the setting up of the task force was to stop illegalities within the nation’s territorial waters, which directly or indirectly impacted negatively on the economic interest of the country.
He said kidnappers, smugglers, illegal private jetty operators had taken advantage of the nation’s porous water-ways to wreak havoc on the economy, a situation the government was no longer ready to accept.
“We are all aware of the challenges we face in our maritime security. Recent developments in our water-ways like illegal bunkering, kidnappings, hostage takings have become serious cause for concern to the government.
“These activities pose serious threats to national security. These acts of illegality, which include economic sabotage and armed smuggling, if not completely addressed could undermine our national security interest.
“It is, therefore, pertinent that proactive actions be taken to contain these acts of security challenges. It is in this regard that the Task Force to address these illegality and security breaches in our territorial waters is hereby constituted.”
Members of the task force include Commodore Dele Ezeoba, chairman; Captain A.M. Sunmola, secretary; Captain Henry Babalola; Col. A. Nani; Group Captain B. Oyobolo; CSP Augustine Fortunatus, Police; and Mr. Segun Agbaje, State Security Service.
It ordered the task force to investigate the operations of all oil and gas companies, arrest all those involved in security breaches, and close down all unlicensed private jetties.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, stated this while inaugurating the Inter-Agency Maritime Security Task Force on Acts of Illegalities in Nigerian Waters on behalf of the Federal Government in Abuja.
The task force, which comprised members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, State Security Service, Customs and others, was also mandated to deal ruthlessly with smugglers and gun- runners within the nation’s territorial waters.
Dike explained that the setting up of the task force was to stop illegalities within the nation’s territorial waters, which directly or indirectly impacted negatively on the economic interest of the country.
He said kidnappers, smugglers, illegal private jetty operators had taken advantage of the nation’s porous water-ways to wreak havoc on the economy, a situation the government was no longer ready to accept.
“We are all aware of the challenges we face in our maritime security. Recent developments in our water-ways like illegal bunkering, kidnappings, hostage takings have become serious cause for concern to the government.
“These activities pose serious threats to national security. These acts of illegality, which include economic sabotage and armed smuggling, if not completely addressed could undermine our national security interest.
“It is, therefore, pertinent that proactive actions be taken to contain these acts of security challenges. It is in this regard that the Task Force to address these illegality and security breaches in our territorial waters is hereby constituted.”
Members of the task force include Commodore Dele Ezeoba, chairman; Captain A.M. Sunmola, secretary; Captain Henry Babalola; Col. A. Nani; Group Captain B. Oyobolo; CSP Augustine Fortunatus, Police; and Mr. Segun Agbaje, State Security Service.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
UN peacekeepers attacked in Congo
Civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have surrounded and stoned a UN convoy after it was stopped by soldiers searching for rebels.
The army took more than 20 men from the convoy, tied them up and presented them as fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
But the UN said the men were in fact pro-government Mai Mai militiamen.
Recent weeks have seen heavy fighting involving rebels, government troops, and pro-government militia.
The violence has triggered a humanitarian crisis, forcing an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, a journalist with UN-sponsored Radio Okapi has been buried in Bukavu, south of Goma.
Didace Namujimbo, 34, was shot in the back of the neck by unknown assailants after getting out of a UN vehicle, reports the AFP news agency.
On Sunday, hundreds of people surrounded and threw stones at the UN convoy after army forces stopped it in Kibati, about 10km north of the provincial capital, Goma.
The UN force, Monuc, has been criticised for not doing enough to protect people from Gen Nkunda’s Tutsi rebels while the army retreated during recent fighting.
Army troops had searched each vehicle and pulled out more than 20 men, before tying their hands and presenting them to local people as CNDP rebels loyal to Nkunda.
But the UN said the men were from the Mai Mai pro-government militia and it was transporting them as part of a demobilisation process.
“There is a misunderstanding,” UN spokeswoman Sylvie Van Wildenberg told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.
“We were transporting Mai Mai elements and we don’t know for which reason FADRC [Congolese army] assumed they were CNDP.”
The BBC’s Thomas Fessy in the region says the confusion may well show a lack of trust between government troops and the UN peacekeeping mission, which has been mandated to support them.
The army took more than 20 men from the convoy, tied them up and presented them as fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
But the UN said the men were in fact pro-government Mai Mai militiamen.
Recent weeks have seen heavy fighting involving rebels, government troops, and pro-government militia.
The violence has triggered a humanitarian crisis, forcing an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, a journalist with UN-sponsored Radio Okapi has been buried in Bukavu, south of Goma.
Didace Namujimbo, 34, was shot in the back of the neck by unknown assailants after getting out of a UN vehicle, reports the AFP news agency.
On Sunday, hundreds of people surrounded and threw stones at the UN convoy after army forces stopped it in Kibati, about 10km north of the provincial capital, Goma.
The UN force, Monuc, has been criticised for not doing enough to protect people from Gen Nkunda’s Tutsi rebels while the army retreated during recent fighting.
Army troops had searched each vehicle and pulled out more than 20 men, before tying their hands and presenting them to local people as CNDP rebels loyal to Nkunda.
But the UN said the men were from the Mai Mai pro-government militia and it was transporting them as part of a demobilisation process.
“There is a misunderstanding,” UN spokeswoman Sylvie Van Wildenberg told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.
“We were transporting Mai Mai elements and we don’t know for which reason FADRC [Congolese army] assumed they were CNDP.”
The BBC’s Thomas Fessy in the region says the confusion may well show a lack of trust between government troops and the UN peacekeeping mission, which has been mandated to support them.
Somali pirates demand $15m ransom for Saudi ship
Somali pirates holding a Saudi supertanker after the largest hijacking in maritime history have reduced their ransom demand to $15m, an Islamist leader and regional maritime group both said on Monday.
The November 15 capture of the Sirius Star — with $100m of oil and 25 crew members from Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines — has focussed world attention on rampant piracy off the failed Horn of Africa state.
Scores of attacks this year have brought millions of dollars of ransom payments, hiked up shipping insurance costs, sent foreign naval patrols rushing to the area, and left about a dozen boats with more than 200 hostages still in pirate hands.
The gang had originally been quoted as wanting $25m to release the Sirius Star, which was captured far from Somali waters about 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya.
But Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Isse Adow, whose men are in the Haradheere area where the ship is being held offshore, said the demand went down. “Middlemen have given a $15m ransom figure for the Saudi ship. That is the issue now,” he said.
Residents say pirates have taken the ship further out to about 100 km (62 miles) off the coast of central Somalia after Islamist militia poured into the town in search of the pirates.
Adow, who represents the Islamic Courts Union, says his men are out to confront the pirates and free the Saudi Arabian Very Large Crude Carrier because it is a “Muslim” ship.
But according to Reuters, residents say other Islamist militia want a cut of any ransom payment.
The November 15 capture of the Sirius Star — with $100m of oil and 25 crew members from Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines — has focussed world attention on rampant piracy off the failed Horn of Africa state.
Scores of attacks this year have brought millions of dollars of ransom payments, hiked up shipping insurance costs, sent foreign naval patrols rushing to the area, and left about a dozen boats with more than 200 hostages still in pirate hands.
The gang had originally been quoted as wanting $25m to release the Sirius Star, which was captured far from Somali waters about 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya.
But Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Isse Adow, whose men are in the Haradheere area where the ship is being held offshore, said the demand went down. “Middlemen have given a $15m ransom figure for the Saudi ship. That is the issue now,” he said.
Residents say pirates have taken the ship further out to about 100 km (62 miles) off the coast of central Somalia after Islamist militia poured into the town in search of the pirates.
Adow, who represents the Islamic Courts Union, says his men are out to confront the pirates and free the Saudi Arabian Very Large Crude Carrier because it is a “Muslim” ship.
But according to Reuters, residents say other Islamist militia want a cut of any ransom payment.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Adidas and Jet Li Target City Folk for New Fitness Program
ADIDAS, an official partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and movie star Jet Li, the ambassador for wushu at the Games, recently united in an exciting initiative aimed at helping people nationwide share the Olympic passion.
Li and adidas have co-developed a fitness course called "Wu Ji" which will be promoted next year through a nationwide gym network. A new product line designed especially for "Wu Ji" also will come onto the market next year.
Paul Pi, adidas vice president of marketing for the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said the brand aimed at helping city dwellers to get fit and embrace the passion of sport through the cooperation with Li.
Li said "Wu Ji" presents a brand-new concept involving both body and mind.
"The course is designed to encourage city dwellers to participate in fitness, to find an inner peace and happiness, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and eventually achieve the balance of physical and mental well-being," he said.
Pi said adidas had a long-term commitment to the development and promotion of sports in China, while Li has always subscribed to the "live healthier, live better" adage.
Meanwhile the recently opened adidas Brand Center in Beijing became the first ever adidas store to carry both sport performance and sport style products including Y-3 and adidas Originals gear.
The largest adidas store in the world, the Brand Center covers a colossal 3,170 square meters of floor space inside the new Sanlitun Village Shopping Center.
It also features a range of innovative and exciting experience zones including miCoach core skills, the recently launched mi Originals, mi adidas, a juice bar, a dedicated "urban" area for pop-up exhibitions and events, a basketball court on the rooftop, a concierge desk and a kid's interactive zone where children can experience the enjoyment of playing sports.
Li and adidas have co-developed a fitness course called "Wu Ji" which will be promoted next year through a nationwide gym network. A new product line designed especially for "Wu Ji" also will come onto the market next year.
Paul Pi, adidas vice president of marketing for the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said the brand aimed at helping city dwellers to get fit and embrace the passion of sport through the cooperation with Li.
Li said "Wu Ji" presents a brand-new concept involving both body and mind.
"The course is designed to encourage city dwellers to participate in fitness, to find an inner peace and happiness, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and eventually achieve the balance of physical and mental well-being," he said.
Pi said adidas had a long-term commitment to the development and promotion of sports in China, while Li has always subscribed to the "live healthier, live better" adage.
Meanwhile the recently opened adidas Brand Center in Beijing became the first ever adidas store to carry both sport performance and sport style products including Y-3 and adidas Originals gear.
The largest adidas store in the world, the Brand Center covers a colossal 3,170 square meters of floor space inside the new Sanlitun Village Shopping Center.
It also features a range of innovative and exciting experience zones including miCoach core skills, the recently launched mi Originals, mi adidas, a juice bar, a dedicated "urban" area for pop-up exhibitions and events, a basketball court on the rooftop, a concierge desk and a kid's interactive zone where children can experience the enjoyment of playing sports.
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