By Buba Gagigo
The National Assembly select committee on Health has recommended that the Government should pay compensation to the families of the deceased and surviving children with Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).
“…Provide compensation to the families of deceased and surviving children. This should include free medical care for the surviving
children with Acute Kidney Injury until they obtain full cure and recovery,” the National Assembly Health Committee recommends.
The committee also recommends that the Medicines and Related Products Act should be amended to give clear and direct powers to the MCA to regulate and impose sanctions on the sector without having to seek the approval of the Minister of Health. The committee says this is to prevent interference with and ineffectiveness of the Agency and its decisions.
The NA health committee similarly recommends the Pharmacy Council Act be amended to give clear and direct powers to the Pharmacy Council of The Gambia to regulate and impose sanctions without having to seek the approval of the Minister of Health.
In addition, the National Assembly select committee also recommends the following;
“All products should be subjected to screening before release into the market for distribution and use. This will ensure that what is ordered is what is delivered to avoid what happened in the case of Atlantic pharmacy.
“Revisit MCA’s SOPs for importation to ensure that those suspected to be substandard, falsified, and counterfeit items are quarantined for further investigations including QC testing at the cost of the importer.
“Random sampling of each imported medicine should be conducted, and the result kept at the MCA. This practice will keep importers on their toes. Ensure at least 5% of all randomly sampled medicines are annually tested. (e. g. 2.5% every 6 months) at the cost of the importer.
“All premises (wholesale pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and drugstores) shall maintain a real-time electronic database, tracing all
medicines from importer to user. This will help to trace and recall medicines as well as for easy retrieval of information”
More than 70 Children died in the Gambia due to Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) this year. The National Assembly select committee on Health was tasked to investigate and make recommendations on the issue.