Dubai: The UAE is free of Paracetamol Hasco B500, a medicine used for treating children, which is being rumoured to contain a deadly virus that causes death within five days, the Ministry of Health and Prevention said on Friday.
Paracetamol Hasco B500 is not registered at the ministry and has not been imported into the country, the ministry added, warning the public against circulating fake news of unlicensed medicines being sold in UAE pharmacies.
“The ministry has not received any warning or notification from the health departments concerned of the League of Arab States neither from the Executive Office of the GCC States. Accordingly, we can’t confirm the health risks of this kind of medicine,” Dr Ameen Hussain Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for public health policy and licenses and chairman of the UAE’s Higher Pharmacovigilance Committee, said.
He urged the public not to circulate or deal with such news, which harms the country’s drug system and causes panic and thereby misleads people. He also warned the public against paying heed to rumours of the leakage of unlicensed drugs into the country’s pharmacies.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention has called on all community members to immediately contact them in case they discover the existence of Paracetamol Hasco B500 in the UAE on the toll-free number 80011111, via the “Tamani” service or by contacting any health authority in the UAE.
