WHO Urges India to Strengthen Oversight on Toxic Cough Syrups After Child Deaths

The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted that India still faces significant challenges in halting the sale of toxic cough syrups, despite some progress. This follows the deaths of at least 24 children after ingesting Coldrif cough syrup by Sresan Pharma, which was found to contain diethylene glycol at levels nearly 500 times above permissible limits. These incidents add to over 300 previous child deaths globally linked to contaminated syrups from India and Indonesia.

While India has introduced mandatory contaminant testing for syrups meant for export, no such regulations exist for domestically sold medicines, presenting a major “regulatory gap” noted by the WHO. WHO’s Rutendo Kuwana emphasized the need for stronger enforcement, thorough testing throughout production, and greater accountability. There is concern over plans to scrap current export testing regulations once firms upgrade facilities, and despite WHO training sessions on toxin testing, Indian officials did not attend, although India claims to use the newer testing methods.

Kuwana criticized the lack of legal consequences in past incidents, stating that failing to adhere to safety standards in medicine production is morally and legally serious due to its deadly effects.