The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday issued an urgent call for countries to crack down on substandard medical products, after more than 300 children died in multiple countries due to contaminated cough syrups, Ednews reports citing Xinhua.
Over the past four months, the WHO said, several incidents have been reported of over-the-counter cough syrups for children contaminated with high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG). These are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents, which can be fatal ingested even in small amounts, and should never be found in medicines
The WHO has already issued three global medical product alerts regarding these incidents since October last year, and has identified six drug companies in India and Indonesia that produced the syrups.
"These are not isolated incidents," the WHO said, calling on key stakeholders in the medical supply chain to take immediate and coordinated action.
Countries should detect and remove contaminated medicines from circulation, the WHO said, and increase surveillance and diligence within the supply chains.
They should also immediately notify WHO if substandard products are discovered, and inform the public of the dangers and toxic effects of the medicines concerned.
