On October 5 and 6, 2022, propaganda news website THE WIRE and the prominent news website BBC claimed cough syrups manufactured by Haryana’s Maiden Pharma have caused the deaths of 66 children in Gambia.
The awful incident grabbed the global headlines, and on October 5, 2022, the head of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a press conference expressed the possibility that the four cough syrups manufactured in India were linked to the mysterious deaths of the children in Gambia.
Fact Check
We started our research with the keyword search “Government take on WHO report on the deaths of 66 children,” which led us to the report by the Times of India. As per the article, the government formed a committee of four members to probe the WHO report. Moreover, the samples of the four cough syrups manufactured by Maiden Pharma were sent to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for the test.
After searching for a sample report, we found the report of the Government of India Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Department of Pharmaceuticals. According to the report, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwant Kubha on December 13, 2022, had given a written reply to the Rajya Sabha regarding the sample test result of the four cough syrups. The written reply says that during the investigation it was found that there were no deficiencies in the quality of the four cough syrups.
Source – Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Department of Pharmaceuticals
Further, in our research, we found an ANI tweet, according to which, on December 13, 2022, India’s Drug Controller General, Dr. VK Somani, wrote a letter to Dr. Rogerio Gaspar, Director of Regulation and Prequalification at WHO, regarding the results of the sample report of the four cough syrups.
The letter reads that all four cough syrups manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceutical are found to be of standard quality after being tested by the Government Laboratory.
According to the letter, the propylene glycol present at the manufacturing site at the time of inspection was also tested, and those samples were confirmed to be in conformity with IP standards.
The facts stated above reveal that the WHO issued a premature statement, and our Indian media was fast to leap to the conclusion that cast India in a negative light.
| Claim | Indian made cough syrups are the reason behind Gambia’s children deaths | |
| Claimed by | THE WIRE and BBC | |
| Fact Check | Fake |
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