Four

cough syrups

allegedly caused the

death of 66 children in Gambia

: the World Health Organization, through its Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, raises the alarm for some cold medicines, Indian production and potentially contaminated, which they would be at the origin of acute kidney injuries, causing the suspected deaths recorded.

The manufacturing company is Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited.

"WHO is conducting further investigations with the company and regulatory authorities in India," Ghebreyesus announced in a press briefing, struck by the "loss of these young lives." The WHO director general also warned that "although contaminated products have

so far only been detected in Gambia

, they may have been distributed in other countries. WHO therefore recommends that all countries

detect and remove these products

from circulation to prevent further harm to patients ".

The return of cholera

In the same press conference, the World Health Organization stressed that 2022 marked the return of

cholera

, whose lethality has grown severely.

“Over the past year we have seen a worrying

increase in outbreaks

around the world

, after years of declining cases.

In the first nine months of 2022 alone, "27 countries have reported outbreaks".

The data we have, which are limited, show that the average lethality rate ”, the

Case fatality rate

,“ so far this year is almost three times the rate of the last five ”.

Among the countries that register the most serious situations is

Syria

, where “over ten thousand suspected cases of cholera have been reported in the last six weeks alone.

In

Haiti

- continues Ghebreyesus - after more than three years without cholera, two cases have been officially reported this week, and 20 suspected cases and seven deaths investigated in other areas.

The actual number of cases is likely to be significantly higher ”.

A disease, that of cholera,

caused by "poverty and conflict"

, points out the director general of the WHO.

But now “there is also an overload linked to

climate change

.

Extreme events such as floods, cyclones and droughts further reduce access to clean water and create the ideal environment for the spread of cholera ”.

For example,

Pakistan

, hit by violent floods, is now facing outbreaks of

malaria

, cholera and

Dengue

.

"Cholera can kill in hours but can be prevented and even treated easily with oral rehydration or antibiotics for severe cases. The reality is that many people do not have access to these simple interventions. In 2013, WHO and its partners they have created an international supply of cholera vaccines, 27 million doses were shipped last year. But with an increasing number of outbreaks, supply cannot keep up with demand. "