NEW DELHI – India will be making tests mandatory for cough syrups before they get exported. Government has taken this decision after realizing how many children have died in Uzbekistan and Gambia after taking the syrups. Cough syrup must have a certificate of analysis issued by a government laboratory before it is exported, the government said in a notice dated May 22 and shared by the Health Ministry on Tuesday. India’s pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest in the world, but its reputation was disturbed after the World Health Organisation (WHO) discovered toxins in cough syrups made by three Indian companies.
Syrups made by two of these companies were linked to the deaths of 70 children in Gambia and 19 in Uzbekistan in 2022.Indian tests of cough syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals, linked to the deaths of children in Gambia, found no toxins, but contaminants were detected in many drugs made by Marion Biotech, whose syrups were linked to deaths in Uzbekistan. The health minister and various other state ministers discussed about this topic to avoid any such incident to repeat in future.