"Some drugs are still -- quote unquote -- suspected," Effendy noted on Wednesday in response to the increase in the number of medical cases.
He said that the drugs, whose distribution would be suspended temporarily, would be reviewed by the Health Ministry, and an investigation would be conducted, supported by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control.
For the time being, the minister could not as yet pinpoint with certainty the reason behind the increase in national cases of acute kidney failure. Currently, it was still a hypothesis that emerged from the cases of acute kidney failures emerging in West African countries and then detected from medicinal products manufactured in South Asia.
"(For the) ones in West Africa, it has been detected that there are medicinal products from South Asian countries that exported these products to West Africa. However, for Indonesia, it is certain that the goods, the drugs, (are not distributed in) Indonesia," he remarked.
Related news: Gov't currently halts syrup drugs' sales amid kidney failure cases
Until now, the minister said his administration is awaiting an update from the Health Ministry on cases of acute kidney failure that mostly affects children.
Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono remarked that the government had given directives on temporary cessation of the sale of syrup drugs in all pharmacies during the investigation of infection risk following the cases of acute kidney failure in children.
"We continue to investigate and conduct some measures to identify acute kidney disease in children, one of which is the cause of infection due to drugs," he stated here on Wednesday.
"The drugs have been examined at the central forensic laboratory, and we are currently identifying which drugs can cause kidney abnormalities," he added.
Harbuwono stated that the government did not prohibit the use of paracetamol, but banned the use of medicinal products in the form of syrups that could be contaminated with ethylene glycol (EG).
Related news: Bandung hospital treats 12 children with acute kidney disorders
Translator: Devi N S R, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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