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Threat of poisoning from Indian cough syrups persists around the world: WHO
WHO lacks reliable evidence that Indian cough syrups, which have killed 300 children in various countries, have been withdrawn from the market. Preparations with a two-year shelf life, as well as raw materials containing toxins from which they are made, are available for purchase in any country. As a result, the risk of fatal poisoning by them persists around the world, according to a spokesman for the organisation.
There are currently nine countries known to have sold the syrups, with six of these countries contacted to track drug availability. Because the investigation has not been completed, the WHO has declined to identify these countries. These are Gambia, Uzbekistan, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Liberia, Cameroon, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Cambodia, Senegal, and the Philippines, according to Reuters.
According to the WHO, in 2021, when the price of propylene glycol (an ingredient used to make medical syrups) skyrocketed, one or more suppliers of such raw materials mixed it with ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol and sold it to manufacturers in this form. The search for the perpetrators is hampered by hazy supply chains.
Ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol are common components of brake fluid for cars and other non-food products, but Reuters discovered that unscrupulous suppliers sometimes mix them with propylene glycol for profit.
Indian authorities have shut down two companies whose products have been linked to deaths in the Gambia and Uzbekistan, Maiden Pharmaceuticals and Marion Biotech. Three Indonesian syrup manufacturers have had their licences revoked: Yarindo Farmatama, Universal Pharmaceutical Industries, and AFI Farma. Konimex, another company, has stopped selling its syrups. Furthermore, as of June 1, 2023, India has made cough syrup quality checks mandatory before export.