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21-11-2023
BANJUL: It’s the happy memories of his toddler son playing around their home in The Gambia’s capital that are most painful for Ebrima Sagnia to remember. When he tries to speak, Sagnia pauses mid-sentence, muted by grief.
In September last year, Sagnia watched Lamin writhe in pain on a hospital bed. The four-year-old had developed a fever early that month, which was common in the rainy season. His parents had given him prescribed medication, hoping the high temperature would go away, but Lamin developed new symptoms instead, becoming drowsy and unable to pass urine for days. He was rushed to the hospital, but his symptoms persisted. Despite his discomfort, Lamin just wanted to return to their home in Banjul and play. He loved football and motorcars. When his dad drove, Lamin would sit in his lap and pretend he was the driver.
By mid-September, about a week after his parents took him to the hospital, Lamin had died. Doctors told Sagnia the cause was complications from acute kidney injury (AKI). The condition, a sudden onset of kidney failure, causes swollen limbs, nausea and confusion and reduced urine flow.
Lamin was one of 70 children killed last year by substandard cough syrups imported from India that the World Health Organization (WHO) said contained “unacceptable levels” of toxins. Most of the children were under five, and some were from the same family. The case has underlined the difficulties low-income economies like The Gambia face in sourcing quality medication and implementing local quality controls.
“Every day reminds me of my son, how he kept saying to me, ‘Daddy, take me home. Take me home,’ and I told him I would,” Sagnia said.
Sagnia could not take his son home, but the 44-year-old is now leading a coalition of 19 aggrieved parents who’ve dragged their government and private entities involved in producing and distributing the medicine in The Gambia to court. The parents, Sagnia said, are seeking justice and restitution for what they say were deaths caused by “negligence and breach of statutory duty”. The Gambia’s Ministries of Health and Justice, the drug manufacturer and distributors, and the country’s Medicines Control Agency (MCA) are all listed as defendants.
Court hearings began on July 21. At the second sitting on October 24, none of the government’s representatives showed up, Loubna Farage, a lawyer representing the parents, said, and the court fined them. About nine of the parents chosen to represent the group were present along with their family members who had shown up for support. The group filled the courtroom, their faces long and their demeanor heavy.
At another court hearing on November 7, government lawyers showed up, but representatives of the manufacturer and distributor were missing. The judge was forced to adjourn until late in November. (Int’l News Desk)
