This task force was set up following the deaths of at least 70 children due to AKI.
The AKI among children was caused by drugs imported into the country, and although it has partly been blamed on lack of quality control lab, it has also been largely blamed on negligence and abdication of duties on the part of the Medicine Control Agency.
“The Government of The Gambia should ensure that the MOH urgently facilitates the establishment of a fully operational National Medicines Quality Control Laboratory (NMQC Lab), as mandated by the Act,” it recommends in the final AKI report.
“As an interim measure, the Government of The Gambia, through the MOH, may seek technical support from the UN Family and National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) for Quality Control (QC) of medicines and related products,” it adds.
It has also urged the Medicine Control Agency to establish a “fully functional pharmacovigilance department to include medicines safety experts committee, regional hospital monitoring and investigation teams, and focal persons at the regional health directorates & health facilities as required by regulation”.
