Comprehensive Agence France-Presse and Reuters reported that after more than 300 children died from contaminated cough syrup, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized on the 23rd that “these incidents are not isolated” and called on all units in the medical supply chain to “take immediate coordinated action.” , to eradicate substandard and counterfeit drugs around the world.
In the past 4 months, at least 7 countries have reported adverse events related to children’s over-the-counter cough syrup. Among them, Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan have accumulated more than 300 related deaths, and most of the deaths were “children under 5 years old”.
Some of the reported incidents have been confirmed or suspected to be caused by contamination of cough syrups made in India with high concentrations of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol.
“These pollutants are toxic chemicals commonly used as industrial solvents and antifreeze, which can be fatal if ingested even in trace amounts, and should never be present in pharmaceuticals,” the WHO warned.
The WHO first issued an alert on the death of a child in Gambia in October last year. Since then, it has successively issued alerts on Indonesia and Uzbekistan, and announced the ban on the production of cough syrup related to the incident by Indian pharmaceutical companies Marion Biotech and Maiden Pharmaceuticals. Countries are stepping up monitoring and inspection of supply chains to remove all contaminated drugs and issue alerts if any substandard products are found.
However, the World Health Organization today emphasized that “the relevant incident is not an isolated case” and urged relevant units involved in the medical supply chain to take “immediate and coordinated action”. Qualified product.
In addition to Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, the WHO also told Reuters today that the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Senegal and Cambodia may also be affected by the sale of problematic drugs, calling on its 194 member states to take immediate action to prevent more deaths occur.
