Jakarta Vice President Ma’ruf Amin underscored the importance of withdrawing drugs that cause acute kidney failure from markets across the country.

“The important aspect is that the government has taken measures (to address it), and I emphasize the withdrawal of drugs that cause kidney failure, so that they are thoroughly investigated in the market, lest there are drugs circulating there,” the vice president remarked here on Saturday.

Amin delivered the statement on Saturday after launching the 2022 National Amil Zakat Agency Santri Scholarship at the Vice President’s Palace here.

He emphasized that research and withdrawal of dangerous drugs should not only be conducted in pharmacies but also other places selling such items.

“There may be other reasons (that caused people to) take medicine (from), for example, from places outside pharmacies; (in places like those, research and withdrawal) must be done,” he remarked.

The vice president stated that the police will investigate this matter over the possibility of a criminal act or foul play in the case of acute kidney failure that had been rampant as of late.

“The problem with criminal matters is the police. The National Food and Drugs Agency must be very selective in giving drug distribution permits to the public,” he stated.

On a separate occasion, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted that his administration and the National Agency of Food and Drugs found three hazardous chemicals — ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (DEG), and ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE) — in 15 samples of syrup-based medications used by patients with the illness.

Those substances were found through research conducted on internal organs of 99 toddlers, who died from acute kidney failure in Indonesia.

Source: Antara News Agency