Over 200 children fell sick in the last two days in Bangladesh after taking government-supplied Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets, local newspaper The Daily Star reported on Monday.
About 200 children in western Natore district were taken to hospital with vomiting tendency and stomachache after they took Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets, the leading English-language newspaper said.
At least 33 children in western Jhenaidah district and 10 in central Faridpur district also fell sick in the last two days after taking the medicines, the report said.
Earlier on Thursday, some 150 children aged between six months and five years old fell sick after taking Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets, according to local reports.
However, Bangladesh's Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haque has ruled out all doubts about the quality of the Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets, The Daily Star said.
The health minister has said in a statement that the Vitamin-A capsules were manufactured by a renowned Canadian pharmaceutic company and certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The expiry date of the capsules was 2012.
The deworming tablets with validity till 2010 were supplied directly by the UNICEF, said the minister.
He said the Vitamin-A campaign has been going on successfully in the country for the last three decades.
The minister assured that the capsules are by no means harmful to children and requested the parents not to panic.
Bangladesh has started a National Vitamin A Plus campaign recently to give Vitamin A capsules to some 20 million children across the country.
Source: Xinhua
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