Twenty toxic medicines linked to more than 300 deaths worldwide have been identified as ‘toxic’. World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, confirmed the development in an email to The Indian Express.

The twenty medicines in question were made by 15 manufacturers from two countries- India and Indonesia. These include syrups, cough medicine, paracetamol, or vitamins.

“Zero tolerance on spurious medicines; extensive risk-based analysis being done to ensure the quality of medicines,” Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said.

In the case of India, four medicines manufactured by Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals, two by Noida-based Marion Biotech, and one by Punjab-based QP Pharmachem have been considered contaminated by the WHO.

The death of approximately 70 children in Gambia has been linked to consumption of four contaminated syrups made by Indian pharma firm Maiden Pharmaceuticals.

This had led to a nationwide emergency recall exercise by WHO. It also demanded increased surveillance and diligence within the supply chains of countries and regions likely to be affected by these products.Lindmeier said that WHO has not expanded its list of medical product alerts, adding that such alerts will be issued only when evidence about medicines being contaminated is found. ‘Medical Product Alerts’ are designed to warn populations of the existence of dangerous medical products and encourage increased vigilance and appropriate regulatory action by National Medicines Regulatory Authorities or Health Ministries to protect populations and supply chains’ as per Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO).

Recently, Indian authorities launched an inquiry into a local pharmaceutical regulator for switching samples of cough syrups before they were tested.