State to test children cough syrups for toxins

The government will from next week test all children's syrups in Kenya, days after one batch was found to be contaminated with a chemical used in break fluids. 

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board, the medicines regulator, said the upcoming retests are just a precautionary measure.

“The exercise will begin next week and run for the next two weeks. We just want to reconfirm that all syrups in Kenya are safe,” said Dr Anthony Toroitich, the PPB head of product safety.

He said they would pick samples from the products in circulation, and take them to the laboratory.

“We have an active method of determining poor quality products. We will sample all these paediatric syrups in Kenya and take the samples to the laboratory. The results will be out after two weeks,” Toroitch told Journalists on Wednesday.

 The nationwide tests follow a growing concern over the safety and necessity of cough syrups.

Last week, Kenya recalled 11,000 units of an imported cough syrup that were found to contain unacceptably high levels of diethylene glycol.

The sweet-tasting chemical has antifreeze properties and a high boiling point.

The PPB said the effects of ingesting diethylene glycol include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, altered mental state and acute kidney injury.

It should not be used in medicines but some third party manufacturers use it because it is cheap. 

These high levels had also been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022.

The recall applied only to Batch No 329304 of  Benylin Paediatric 100ml, from which the 11,000 units came from.

On Wednesday, Toroitich said they are also testing 44,000 units of Benylin Paediatric 100ml which are in the country but are not from Batch No 329304.

The recalled Benylin batch was made in May 2021 and its products were due to expire next month.

He noted there is no problem with the batch that produced the 44,000 and the tests are just precautionary measures.

“So far we have not had any other complaints on the syrups in Kenya. The only complaint was from the recalled batch, and that complaint came from Nigeria, which also had received syrups from that batch,” Toroitich said.

In a statement posted last week on X, formerly Twitter, PPB said it was acting on the advice of the Nigerian food and drug agency.

Rwanda also joined Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa in recalling that batch of the syrup, which had been exported to six African countries.

Last year, the World Health Organization called for “immediate and concerted action” to protect children from contaminated medicines after a spate of child deaths linked to cough syrups.

In 2022, more than 300 children—mainly aged under five—in the Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan died of acute kidney injury, in deaths that were associated with contaminated medicines.

The WHO also asked governments and regulators to assign resources to inspect manufacturers, increase market surveillance and take action where required.

Some regulators theorised that unscrupulous actors sometimes substitute propylene glycol with toxic alternatives, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, because they are cheaper.

The alternatives are more commonly used in brake fluid and other products not meant for human consumption.

The WHO's working theory is that in 2021, when prices of propylene glycol spiked, one or more suppliers mixed the cheaper toxic liquids with the legitimate chemical.

Since 2001, the WHO has recommended against giving cough syrups to children aged under five, because it says there is limited evidence of how effective they are, or what side-effects they may have.