By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The World Health Organization (WHO) has fingered India as the manufacturer of a cough syrup linked to the death of six children in Cameroon.
WHO on Wednesday cautioned against a syrup branded as Naturcold, which it says contains extremely high levels of the toxic contaminant diethylene glycol.
The United Nations agency therefore called on Indian authorities to offer assistance in establishing the origins of a contaminated pharmaceutical product.
The manufacturer of Naturcold is listed on the packet as Fraken International (England), but the UK regulator told WHO that no such company exists.
The WHO wrote to India’s regulator as the alert was issued on Wednesday, asking for help in reaching Indian companies that may be involved, a spokesperson told Reuters. Other countries have also been contacted, she said.
The alert about Naturcold is the latest of several similar warnings issued in recent months about contaminated cough syrups sold worldwide.
In 2022, the medicines were linked to the deaths of more than 300 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Indonesia.
Another alert earlier this year also said contaminated medicines had been found in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, but no deaths have been reported there. The WHO has said the threat is ongoing.
All of the syrups are made by different manufacturers, although in three of the four incidents, they are Indian-made. The deaths in Indonesia were linked to syrups made domestically.
The WHO said this pattern meant that working with India was a high priority in finding out more about the incident in Cameroon.
