In Gambia, the trial in the case of 70 children who died of kidney failure in 2022 after consuming adulterated cough syrup resumed on Tuesday, November 7 at the Banjul High Court.
After being suspended in July, the hearing scheduled for October 24 was finally adjourned due to the absence of the main defendants: the Gambian Ministry of Health, the medical control agency, but also the Indian laboratory. Maiden Pharmaceuticals which manufactured the drugs.
Twenty bereaved families have launched legal proceedings demanding $250,000 in damages for each of the deceased children.
According to the indictment, Gambian health authorities failed to comply with the law requiring them to thoroughly monitor all imported medicines. For their part, lawyers for the ministry and the National Authority claimed that the children died after drinking dirty water. The Indian laboratory also denies any responsibility.
The Gambia did not have the means to test products. Last October, Gambian President Adama Barrow announced the creation of a national medicine quality control laboratory.
Furthermore, the WHO has launched a call for immediate action to eradicate these non-compliant medicines which have caused the death of 300 children in Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. These highly toxic substances included diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, in unacceptable quantities, according to a World Health Organization investigation.
Russia and Burkina Faso plan to strengthen military cooperation
The Russian Minister of Defense and his Burkinabè counterpart Kassoum Coulibaly agreed on Tuesday in Moscow to strengthen ties between their countries in the field of defense.
Sergei Choïgou noted the good health of cooperation between the two nations: relations with Burkina are based solely on the principles of mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests, and in recent years, they have acquired dynamic positive. I consider today's meeting a new stage in the development of our friendly relations, he added.
In a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry, the ministers shake hands and take part in a meeting with other military officials.
The Burkinabe Minister of Defense, Kassoum Coulibaly, expressed his attachment to this partnership with Russia according to a press release which marked the end of his visit. In addition to the military field, in October, Ouagadougou signed an agreement with Moscow for the construction of its first nuclear power plant.