Jakarta. Indonesian health authorities on Thursday announced the recall of five syrup medicine brands for containing chemicals above the safe limit amid concerns that the use of liquid medicines may have contributed to the growing number of kidney failures among children.

The Drug and Food Supervisory Agency, or BPOM, said those syrup medicines contained ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG) at a level unsafe for humans.

The agency said in a statement that it has conducted sampling tests on 26 syrup medicines suspected of being contaminated by EG and DEG and found them in five brands.

“The BPOM orders the producers to recall those medicines from the public,” the agency said.

The five brands include:
1.    fever syrup Termorex Sirup manufactured by Konimex
2.    cough syrup Flurin DMP Sirup manufactured by Yarindo Farmatama 
3.    cough syrup Unibebi Cough Sirup manufactured by Universal Pharmaceutical Industries 
4.    fever syrup Unibebi Demam Sirup manufactured by Universal Pharmaceutical Industries 
5.    fever syrup Unibebi Demam Drops manufactured by Universal Pharmaceutical Industries 

The BPOM said the majority of syrup medicines available in the market today remain safe for consumption.

The announcement came a day after the Health Ministry revealed that there have been 206 cases of kidney failures among children including 99 deaths over the past 10 months.

The ministry also bans the sales of syrup medicines “until further notice” from the government.

Despite the recall, the BPOM admitted that it has not come to the conclusion that syrup medicines have links to the growing cases of kidney failures among children.

"There are a number of risk factors that may cause acute kidney injuries such as viral infection, leptospirosis, and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children linked to Covid-19," the agency said.