In July last year, over 20 children with kidney failure were hospitalized in the pediatric emergency unit of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in #Gambia.
Later, almost everyone passed away.
1/13
Doctors, who typically see one or two instances like this each year, were perplexed.
The #Gambian health ministry authorities believed the issue was contaminated water as it was the rainy season. Nonetheless, several specialists thought the children had been poisoned.
2/13
Three months later, global health experts linked the deaths of more than 70 #Gambian children from Acute Kidney Injury to cough syrups manufactured in #India that were contaminated with ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG).
3/13
The patients were the first of around 300 kids who died last year from tainted cough syrups—not all of them made in #India—around the world. In terms of the total number of deaths caused by toxins, it was the deadliest poisoning ever recorded.
4/14
The tests, which were carried out with assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO), revealed the medications had been supplied in bottles that were falsely labeled as WHO-approved and contained extremely unsafe quantities of the toxins.
5/13
Afterward, the #WHO released a Medical Product Alert citing four substandard products that were discovered in The #Gambia and reported to the WHO. These items' stated manufacturer was Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited (Haryana, #India).
6/13
The company had not given #WHO any assurances about the quality & safety of these items, the notice said.
Additionally, it mentioned that these four goods had been discovered in #Gambia but might have found their way through informal markets to other countries or regions.
7/13
After the WHO's alert on the drugs in #Gambia was widely covered by the media, #India's drug regulator wrote to the WHO to explain that the drug samples "were not found to have been contaminated" and that its statement had damaged the reputation of Indian pharmaceuticals.
8/13
The letter recalled a dispute between the Indian government and the #WHO on the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in #India.
Contrary to the govt's support of the industry, certain public health specialists have consistently raised concerns about insufficient regulation.
9/13
The uproar had barely subsided when, in December, a syrup manufactured by #Indian pharmaceutical company Marion Biotech Pvt Ltd caused at least 18 child deaths in #Uzbekistan due to acute respiratory disease.
10/13
#India is regarded as the "pharmacy of the world," and its pharmaceutical exports have more than doubled in the last ten years, reaching $24.5 billion in 2021–2022.
The industry provides almost half of the generic medications used in #Africa.
11/13
According to a group of experts from the #Gambia & the #US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the #Gambian case may be the first known instance of DEG poisoning caused by an imported drug as opposed to one that was produced locally.
12/13
The incident, according to the experts, demonstrates the challenges confronted by a nation with limited resources in identifying and disposing of dangerous products.
13/13
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Thread | The Sacrifice No One Expected: Bahadur Shah Zafar's Historic Eid-ul-Adha
Imagine a holy day used as a weapon. That's what the British planned for Eid-ul-Adha in 1857 Delhi.
Their target: Unity. But here's where Bahadur Shah Zafar stepped in.. [1/13]
1857: A Secret Plot to Tear India Apart on Eid
1857, Delhi: The flames of rebellion raged against British rule. But the enemy wasn't just on the battlefield. They sought to tear India apart by exploiting religious differences.[2/13]
In the heart of the fight stood Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor. As Eid-ul-Adha approached, a sinister plot was brewing... [3/13]
1️⃣ #SAT Analysis: Chairman Michael McCaul from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee says the #IEA is arming the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against #Pakistan.
IEA denies this, but, figuring out how TTP got high-tech weapons is an interesting research question.
Let's find the answer ⬇️
2️⃣ As per a Pentagon report, the #UnitedStates provided $18.6 billion in equipment to #Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) between 2005 & August 2021.
The report indicates that following the completion of the U.S. withdrawal on August 30, 2021, equipment valued at $7.12 billion remained in #Afghanistan.
3️⃣ Moreover, According to the report, at the time of the U.S. military withdrawal, more than 300,000 out of the total 427,300 weapons provided by the United States to Afghan forces were left within #Afghanistan.
Notably, these weapons found their way into the possession of anti-Pakistan terrorist groups under the supervision of the IEA.
1️⃣ #SAT Analysis: Is #India under the scrutiny lens of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)?
The FATF is going to start its fourth evaluation of India's actions to stop illegal money.
A thread to explore India’s performance in its compliance with FATF targets. ⤵️
2️⃣ Initially, Amnesty International has highlighted that #Indian authorities are using false foreign funding & terrorism accusations to single out, intimidate, harass, & silence critics.
This action is seen as a clear breach of #FATF standards.
3️⃣ Amnesty International points out that during its third #FATF review in 2010, the Indian government itself deemed the risk from the nonprofit sector to be "low."
However, since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took office in 2014, authorities have employed overly broad legal provisions to suppress critics & terminate their activities. This has included revoking their foreign funding permits and prosecuting them under counterterrorism laws & financial regulations.
1️⃣ In the South Asian region, #Pakistan has hosted #Afghan refugees since the mid-1970s, with 3.7 million currently residing there.
Meanwhile, #India's treatment of Afghans has been less accommodating, prompting a closer look at India's behaviour towards them.
2️⃣Firstly, when the Soviet Union invaded #Afghanistan, #India was one of the countries that did not condemn the #USSR.
3️⃣ Furthermore, during the early 1990s, when former #Afghan President Najibullah sought assistance from the government of #NewDelhi, the administration under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao did not facilitate the evacuation of Najibullah from #Kabul.
This decision persisted even in the face of a request by Boutros-Ghali during an unscheduled visit to #India.
The UN is set to hold an #Afghanistan Envoys meeting with the Secretary-General, shortly.
This will be a one-of-its-kind conference since the takeover of #Kabul in 2021. Recognition of the #Taliban will be on agenda.
A 🧵
2⃣ The announcement came from UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, while she was speaking at Princeton’s School of Public & International Affairs.
Though exact date was not mentioned, but Zalmay Khalilzad wrote on his Twitter that meeting will convene on May 1 in #Doha.
3⃣ Amina Mohammed, in her talk, also mentioned another conference of high value being planned.
It will be hosted by Saudi Arabia & convened by the #OIC. The discussion will be on Women in #Islam.