Two high-profile scandals related to mass poisonings of children with medicines in Uzbekistan over the past year indicate a systemic crisis, high level of corruption in pharmacology and lack of control in the supply of medicines.
Experts believe that if corruption and uncontrolled corruption in the crucial healthcare sector are not curbed, there will be even more deaths and poisonings.
In August of this year, a trial began in Uzbekistan over the poisoning of children’s cough syrup Dok-1 Max, a product of the Indian pharmaceutical company Marion Biotech. The drug killed 65 children.
The defendants in the case are 21 people, including importers and exporters of the drug. They are charged under 9 articles of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, among which are receiving and giving bribes, forgery of documents, stamps, official forgery, abuse of power or official authority and others.
Deaths of children from taking cough syrup “Dok-1 Max”, in which the investigation found a toxic substance ethylene glycol, began to be registered in December 2022.
During the court hearings, many details came to light, from which it is clear that the fatal poisonings of children were facilitated by a high level of corruption, as well as the negligence and irresponsibility of officials in the control of imported medicines. It also announced the final figure of 65 children who died as a result of taking this syrup. Before that, the official figure given by the Ministry of Health was 20 children. The trial has not yet been finalized.
In an interview with CABAR.asia, Feruz Nuritdinov, the father of the child who suffered from taking Doc-1 Max syrup revealed that his child was in a coma for more than two months after taking the syrup in December 2022.
“Thank God my child did not die from the syrup. But because of it, he couldn’t speak at first. He then went into coma and was in coma for 65 days. During this period, the veins in his arms got stretched and they became twisted. He regained consciousness thanks to an operation on his head. But to date, my child can neither speak nor move. He has the first group of disability,” says the child’s father.
Despite the government’s measures and investigation into the incident, less than a year after the tragedy, in September of this year, more than 70 children were hospitalized in Namangan Oblast hospitals with signs of poisoning. Local media reported that children in other cities of Uzbekistan were admitted to hospitals with the same signs of poisoning.
This time, the poisonings were provoked by a local drug, Antistrumin, which contains iodine. It was given to children as part of a campaign to iodize the population of the country, the manufacturer of which was a local company Samo LLC.
This became known from social networks, as well as from local media reports, which spoke to attending doctors of hospitals where children with signs of poisoning were brought.
The General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan reported that the situation was being investigated.
However, almost two months later, no one has officially named the exact number of poisoned children and the exact drug overdose that caused the mass poisoning in Namangan province.
Despite the fact that doctors and doctors who treated children for poisoning talk about iodine preparations, health officials try to hide it and deny the facts of poisoning of children with “Antisturmin”, which was given to them in kindergartens and schools.
Almost immediately after the poisoning of children in Namangan Oblast became known, Uzbek Deputy Health Minister Elmira Basitkhanova said at a press conference for journalists that the poisoning of children was not related to the ingestion of Antistrumin.
However, the Uzbek service of Radio Liberty – Ozodlik published a letter of instruction signed by Elmira Basitkhanova, which instructs the heads of the city and regional health departments, as well as the Uzmedimpex organization, which is responsible for state purchases by the Ministry of Health, and the Samo pharmaceutical company to urgently stop using Antistrumin. The letter states that the ban will be in effect until the results of laboratory tests are obtained.
Social media users and readers of the country’s news sites, concerned about the mass poisonings, urged not to hide the truth and to name the exact number of children affected by the iodization campaign, as well as the drugs that caused them. However, nearly two months later, no medical official has yet answered these questions.
Such frequent and fatal errors indicate that the health care system is in deep crisis – there is no transparency and accountability, and there is corruption, especially in pharmacology and control over the quality of drugs imported and produced in the country, observers say.
Most likely, medical officials are trying to protect “the honor of the uniform,” said Yulduz Turakhonova (name changed for security reasons), an employee at a clinic in Tashkent.
“Either they are trying to hide something more. We all know that medicines are not free. And such a large order for drug supplies cannot be given to just anyone, since it was a government order. And the Samo company, as they say, received it without a tender. Apparently, there is a lot of money involved here. And big connections,” Turakhonova said.
Meanwhile, local media revealed that the Health Ministry purchased 3.55 million packs of Antistrumin (potassium iodide) for nearly 22 billion soums (about US $2m) from the local Samo company without a tender.
In the above-mentioned report, Radio Ozodlik, citing its sources, reports that Samo LLC received such a large order when the Minister of Health was Behzod Musayev, and the managers of this company are persons close to the former Minister of Health.
Local activists in their Telegram channels and then in the media also reported that one of the founders of this company, Nodir Yunusov, “was on Interpol’s international wanted list”.
“The US and Interpol are looking for him in connection with particularly serious crimes: human trafficking, slave labor, fraud, racketeering and the creation of a corrupt organization,” the “Makarenko Effect” telegram channel said.
Experts interviewed by CABAR.asia believe that all these and other facts show that corruption in the health sector is off the charts, and mistakes in the management system have led to deaths, which in itself is fatal. And if this situation is not corrected, there will be much more poisonings and deaths.
Abdurakhmon Tashanov, head of the Ezgulik public human rights organization of Uzbekistan, said in an interview with CABAR.asia that imports of medicines coming into Uzbekistan from abroad are completely corrupt.
“Corruption has increased in Uzbekistan in importing medicines imported from abroad. During the trial of importing the drug Dok-1 MAKS into Uzbekistan, it was proved that they bribed officials to import this syrup into Uzbekistan. Control in this area is very weak,” he said.
Khulkar Murtazayeva, a journalist with the website Qalampir.uz who participated in a court case involving children who died from poisoning by Dok-1 MAKS syrup, was struck by the scale of the children affected and said she learned during court hearings that the number of deaths from the Indian drug could be much higher.
“The number of children who became disabled after this drug is also quite high. The Ministry of Health was the main responsible for all this. There was no response from the former minister. He simply moved on to another job, that’s all. The current Minister Inoyatov is in a hurry to erase the stains left by him. I can’t answer who should be punished for this. The court is dealing with this. At present, employees of the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Center for Medicines are in custody. Everything will be clear after the trial,” she said.
Another reason, according to blogger and satiologist Kabul Dosov, is that Uzbekistan lacks laboratories and specialists for drug testing. The material and technical base of existing laboratories in Uzbekistan is also unsatisfactory
“The main reason for child poisonings is that Uzbekistan lacks laboratories for sufficient drug testing. There is also a lack of specialists. I believe the government should allocate enough money to this area,” he said.
To prevent corruption, the healthcare system should be reformed and salaries for medical staff, doctors, nurses and others should be raised, Khulkar Murtazayeva said.
“It is better to gradually make medicine payable. In Uzbekistan, people already pay for treatment in maternity hospitals and other places. It’s time to make it official. Then the quality will improve,” she said.
Abdurakhmon Tashanov, calling for more radical measures, called for a tougher fight against corruption and monopolists in the supply of medicines. He believes the government should ensure transparency in tenders for the supply of medicines.
“Pharmaceuticals is a very big field. I do not believe that corruption in this sphere will disappear in the next few years, but measures should be taken on the part of the state to eliminate corruption and monopoly in this sphere. If measures are not taken on the part of the state, there may be more deaths of people and children because of medicines,” he said.