MURTHY CALLS GAMBIA DEATHS DUE TO INDIAN SYRUP A ‘SHAME’
BENGALURU: Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy on Tuesday said the country faces huge challenges in the field of research in sciences despite the nation achieving the feat of producing Covid-19 vaccine and inoculating the people of the country.
He also talked about the death of 66 children in The Gambia in Africa linked to India-produced cough syrups.He was speaking at an event to present Infosys prize to six people by the Infosys Science Foundation.
Lauding companies which manufactured and supplied the billion Covid-19 vaccines, Murthy said this was an achievement by any standard.
“That death of 66 children in Gambia, resulting from an Indiaproduced cough syrup has brought unimaginable shame to our country and has dented the credibility of our pharmaceutical regulatory agency,” Murthy said.
On November 1, The Gambia’s Medicines Control Agency said it had not yet pinpointed the exact cause of the deaths. The agency said some of the deceased had not taken any medicine.
The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2022 in six categories — Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences. Mahesh Kakde, Professor of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science; Sudhir Krishnaswamy, ViceChancellor, National Law School of India University; and Suman Chakraborty, Dean of Research and Development, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, were some of the award winners.