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- 24.05.2023 08:27:00
- 3 min read
Indian pharmaceutical companies are obliged to check the quality of cough syrups in state laboratories from June 1. This was reported by Reuters, relying on the order of the General Directorate of foreign trade of the country.
Mandatory testing is introduced on cough syrups intended for export. The decision was made by Indian authorities after the deaths of more than 20 children in The Gambia and Uzbekistan who took Indian-made preparations.
” The export of cough syrup is allowed from June 1, 2023, provided that export samples are tested and certified in some state laboratories, " the document says.
India exported $ 17.6 billion worth of cough syrups in the 2022-2023 financial year (completed on April 1). Preparations are supplied to Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Nepal and other countries.
In March, India had revoked the licenses of 18 pharmaceutical companies as part of its fight against poor-quality drug manufacturers. Against the background of reports of death and illness worldwide due to preparations made in India, officials conducted an examination in 20 states of the Republic.
Why are drugs made in India causing safety concerns?
India is the world's largest exporter of generic drugs that meet a large part of the medical needs of developing countries.
But in recent months, many Indian firms have been undergoing testing for the quality of their medicines, and experts are worried about the production practice of these preparations.
In October, the WHO published a global warning and said that four cough syrups produced by Maiden Pharmaceuticals caused the death of 66 children from kidney damage in The Gambia.
Both the government of India and Maiden Pharmaceuticals have denied these allegations.
In March, Indian cough syrups had revoked the manufacturing license of a firm involved in the death of children in Uzbekistan.
Consequences of the consumption of syrup "Dok-1 max" in Uzbekistan
More than 20 children have been reported to have died in Uzbekistan following the consumption of the Indian-made syrup “Dok-1 max”.
A criminal case was filed by the state security service in connection with the case with the drug “Dok-1 max”. In Uzbekistan, the sale of all drugs belonging to the company that produced the “Dok-1 Max”was temporarily suspended.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev received from work the head of the pharmaceutical network development agency Sardor Kariyev at the meeting on December 30. Sardor Kariyev has been serving as director of the pharmaceutical network development agency under the Ministry of Health since February 2019.
Who reacted to the death of children from the drug “Dok-1 max” in Uzbekistan. The government of India, on the other hand, suspended the license of the Dok-1 max. Preliminary results of the examination of the plant that produced the drug “Dok-1 max” in India have been published.
It turned out that the death associated with syrup was also detected in other countries, but it is not said which drugs they were caused by exactly. In particular, about 200 children have died in Indonesia since 2022 from acute kidney damage caused by syrup consumption. In the Gambia, too, children died after consuming cough syrup developed by the Indian pharmaceutical company.
