JAKARTA, Oct 24 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia is expected to receive drugs for acute kidney injury from Singapore and Australia, amid increasing children’s deaths from the disease, Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said yesterday.
As of Saturday, the number of children who died from progressive acute kidney injury rose to 133, forcing the authorities to temporarily ban all sales and prescription of syrup-based medications, nationwide.
The needed rare drugs are Fomepizole, 10 from Singapore and 16 from Australia.
The health ministry had ordered less than 200 vials previously. Each patient is expected to receive one vial with 1.5 gram or 1.5 ml injection dose, Sadikin told a press conference.
The minister also expressed appreciation for the assistance from both Singapore and Australia.
The Indonesian government has been working to identify possible causes of the acute kidney injury in the children, who are mostly less than six years old, and preliminary investigation linked it with pathogens contaminating the syrup medicines taken by them, such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and ethylene glycol butyl ether.
The health ministry earlier assured that the acute kidney injury cases were not related to COVID-19 vaccines, as the COVID-19 jabs are only for people aged six and above.– NNN-ANTARA
