A banned poisonous local brew again got into the public limelight, early this week, when a local journalist met one of its victims at the Rwanda Charity Eye Hospital (RCEH), in Kamonyi District.

From what the journalist said was a coincidental interaction, he was told that when three young men previously shared a bottle of K’BAMBA, two died while the only survivor lost his eyesight completely.

On Monday, the journalist told The New Times, there was a long queue at the well-known surgical eye hospital.

Among these patients were victims of toxic local brews like K’BAMBA, which the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) had withdrawn from the market and banned its use.

Dr Piet Noe, an ophthalmologist at the eye hospital, on Wednesday, July 15, told The New Times that the production and consumption of toxic alcoholic beverages is "a big problem.”

To deal with it, he suggested, the public must be sensitized, and firm control measures as well as strict regulation put in place to prevent unnecessary death and loss of young people’s eyesight or other organs.

"I think it’s very important to sensitise the public. This alcohol is not like the normal beer people drink. Those small bottles are cheap but in the end, they cost your life, or eyes,” Noe said.

In the past few months, he noted, the hospital has treated more than 20 young people whose lives were altered forever, by toxic beverages.

"Their lives are ruined. They are completely blind. And they are young; with many years to go but can’t study, or work. It’s a disaster. I think many people are talking about K’BAMBA but there are other such (toxic substances).”

Noe could not provide fatality statistics because their facility caters only for survivors who go there for eye treatment.

K’BAMBA was being manufactured by a local company, called BIO-HAP Ltd, based in Kicukiro District and according to Dr Charles Karangwa, the acting Director General of Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), it was being sold in small neighbourhood retail shops.

From the quality control test results they carried out, he said, it was revealed that the beverage "contained a high level of methanol” that can lead to death, blindness, skin damage, damage of the respiratory system and other body systems "when consumed even in small concentration, or inhaled.”

Methanol is a highly toxic liquid or alcohol used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source. Low concentrations of naturally present methanol are not harmful.

Being a product of fermentation, low levels of methanol are found in beer and spirits, and are not toxic when consumed. But higher concentrations are toxic.

Producers of highly toxic alcoholic beverages, Noe observed, mix them with methanol.

"Even in small quantities you can die or, if you don’t die, you become blind because the optic nerve is very sensitive to this poison,” Noe said.

He explained that when one drinks K’BAMBA and does not get medical help within 24 hours, "a life is lost.”

"Most people are struck within the first 24 hours. They get drunk and sleep. Once they wake up, the damage has been done. After a few days, the vision is gone.”

Shared responsibility

Asked how the public can ensure safety even before FDA recalls such products or issues public notices against their consumption, Karangwa stressed that "safety is a shared responsibility.”

He said: "The public is advised to always be very vigilant before purchasing a product. They should check the labeling and packaging of the product; that is, name of product, name and address of manufacturer, batch number, date of expiry, manufacture date, net content, ingredients, nutritional information, and instructions for use and storage.”

"All these can be found on our website and the Authority continues to conduct awareness by issuing safety information, among others. We also encourage people to report any products they suspect to be of harm or substandard to the Authority.”

In case someone notices any adverse effects after consuming a product, Karangwa said, they should immediately report to the FDA.

Strict regulation

Talking about feasible lasting solutions, Noe first observed that he thinks that consumption of very strong alcoholic beverages is "very popular, mainly with the young men.”

He added: "I think there should be very strict regulation for the production of those beverages. It is not a good evolution that so many different factories of those beverages are starting. Alcohol is already very bad for your health but now we see many of them (factories) mixing methanol in the production process.”

"It might be done on purpose. It should be steadily controlled and checked to see if no methanol is used.”

Dominique Bahorera, the acting spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), said it is important that efforts to harmonize the importation of methanol be undertaken by competent organs.

Bahorera added: "Public awareness is required at the local level to let the citizen know the danger of producing and consuming illicit drinks as they may cause death to many and other consequences.”

According to the FDA boss, "the lasting solution is registration of all products” on the Rwandan market.

Karangwa explained that for a product to be registered it has to meet the set standards.

"This therefore helps to ensure that products are safe for consumption. After the registered product is released on the market, the Authority conducts post market surveillance to make sure the same product that was registered is the one being sold,” Karangwa said.

"Rwanda FDA is a new agency and was established to curb such incidents. We have officers at all ports of entry who are all working tirelessly to ensure all processed products entering the country are safe for consumption.”

The FDA, he pointed out, has been successful in registering both processed foods and medicinal products.

So far, he said, it has received and reviewed 1,175 dossiers for assessment and registration of medicinal products and 139 food products are registered.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, they extended the deadline of registration to December 31 for both medicinal products and food products "and we are happy that more manufacturers continue to apply for registration.”

"This is an indication that people have started to appreciate the importance of registering their products.”

Rwanda FDA, he said, does not punish people who do things against the law as it only sets administrative sanctions aimed at regulating products in order to protect public health.

"When an act committed constitutes an offence, it is in the responsibility of penal laws enforcers,” Dr Karangwa said.

Bahorera said RIB has investigated cases and continues to monitor the situation.

Since January, he said, four cases "involving 10 suspects” were compiled, and submitted to the prosecution.