Busia, Kenya: The medical fraternity is calling for investigations into last week’s incident in which 30 children suffered partial paralysis after an injection in Busia County.
The medics are demanding that the quality of medicines injected and the needles used be tested at the national control laboratory and the outcome made public.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi at the weekend, the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) said the drug that was administered on the children may have contained a toxic active ingredient but was quick to note that only an in-depth investigation would end speculation.
“Investigation should be done to confirm if the drug ingredients were as per the labels. The needles used should also be taken for specification and sterility testing. At this juncture, it may not be useful condemning the nurse who was in charge,” PSK President Paul Mwaniki said.
On Wednesday, the nurse in charge at Akichelesit Dispensary where the children were injected was suspended as parents and relatives demanded answers.
Dr Mwaniki (pictured) said the nurse, the County Executive Committee member in charge of Health and County Director of Health Services should not be roundly condemned before a thorough investigation.
“We have had situations in some counties where the active ingredient of a drug as indicated in the label is not what is inside. In one case, a drug labeled quinine was tested and the results showed its active ingredient was paracetamol,” Mwaniki said. The PSK boss said loopholes in regulation of the pharmaceutical sector had persistently compromised the safety of Kenyans. He said infiltration by quarks, questionable accreditation of some practitioners and importation of drugs outside registration and import guidelines should be addressed.
Mwaniki called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to address stakeholders’ concerns in the health sector. “The President should address regulatory loopholes in the sector with the same vigour the illegal brews menace has been handled,” he added.
The medics spoke as MCAs blamed the poor service delivery in the Health sector in the county on graft, negligence and nepotism.
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