Parents warned as woman wails over pill-taking child

A health expert is reminding parents to place medication out of the reach of children and to ensure that substances such as bleach and kerosene oil are not left in drinks or water bottles at home.

Director of family health in the Ministry of Health, Dr Melody Ennis, said that precautionary messages are given at health facilities urging parents to place medication where children cannot access them.

The reminder comes against the background of an incident on Sunday in which a child reportedly ingested medication.

A dramatic scene unfolded when the mother, who was in the precincts of PriceSmart in St Andrew, got news that the child had swallowed the medication.

Shrill screams echoed in the parking lot of the food store as the distraught mother expressed fear that her child might die. At one point, a nurse sought to calm the mother after she threw herself on Red Hills Road in agony, surrounded by policemen.

The child’s condition could not be ascertained up to press time.

Expressing hope that the child had received treatment and was now doing well, Ennis said that despite public education exercises, many parents did not believe that reported incidents could happen to their family.

She said very young children see their parents taking medication and believe it is OK for them to do the same.

The health expert said the ministry will seek to step up its public education drive to emphasise the need for parents to be extra careful.