The World Health Organization (WHO) has released an urgent call to action to countries to prevent, detect, and respond to incidents of substandard and falsified medical products.
Over the past four months, countries have reported several incidents of over-the-counter cough syrups for children with confirmed or suspected contamination with high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) which are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal even taken in small amounts.
These incidents have led to over 300 fatalities in at least three countries, mostly young children under the age of five.
WHO has issued three global medical alerts addressing these incidents and requested countries to detect and remove contaminated medicines from circulation, increase surveillance and diligence within the supply chains, and inform the public of the dangers of substandard medicines.
WHO is calling on regulators, governments, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors to take immediate and coordinated action to prevent and respond to these incidents.
WHO will continue to work with its Member State Mechanism on substandard and falsified medical products to promote effective collaboration in preventing, detecting, and responding to these incidents.
