KNH knocked syrups off its drug list 12 years ago

Reacting to the news that two leading hospitals in Nairobi Agah Khan and Getrude’s had withdrawn cold and cough medicines for use in children under 12, the chairman of the Kenya Pharmaceutical Distributors Association Dr Kamamia wa Murichu said the issue should be handled with care because it could have devastating effects on the sector.

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“If for some reason this ban becomes an official policy then it could cripple the Sh14 billion pharmaceutical industry and wipe out many retail pharmacists from business because the drugs in question represent almost 20 per cent of the market,” he told the Nation.

Most affected, he explained would be local manufacturers, almost all of whom have a cold or cough product in the market. “The liquid line is the cheapest to establish in a pharmaceutical establishment and the products are fast movers, hence a general withdrawal would not be advisable,” he said.

However, a member of the Kenya Pharmaceutical Distributors Association, who did not wish to be named, broke ranks with colleagues and said the hospitals withdrawing the medicines had a strong case because in most cases the cold or cough will clear on their own.

“Unless there is an underlying infection, the child should shrug off the cold after a few days. But to make it comfortable the infant needs to be kept on a lot of fluids. In case of an infection the child may require a paediatrician to prescribe a suitable antibiotic,” he told the Nation on Thursday.

The problem with most of these drugs, he explained, is that they are designed to use the shogun effect — hit the problem with many compounds hoping one of them will achieve the desired effect.

One product could contain a suppressant, which suppresses the urge to cough and an expectorant that thins the mucus. These and other products may send the baby to sleep which could inhibit the clearance of mucus.

A senior marketing official with the Swiss giant Roche Pharmaceuticals, Dr Paul Njoroge, said a blanket withdrawal of these would be ill advised in the absence of comprehensive studies.