Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths

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 The Gambian government to set up multilayer scrutiny on pharmaceutical products from India prior to shipment from July 2023. The first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups.

The Gambia government to set up multilayer scrutiny on pharmaceutical products from India prior to shipment from July 2023. The first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups.

The new rule highlights how governments are reassessing their reliance on India’s $42 billion pharmaceutical industry since the contamination came to light last year. India’s industry supplies nearly half of the pharmaceuticals used in Africa. In April, India’s government said its officials had held meetings in Africa to ensure its drug exports did not suffer after at least 70 children died in Gambia after ingesting the cough syrup last year.

India’s drug controller general, Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, stated that the MCA had appointed Quntrol Laboratories, an independent inspection and testing company for pharmaceuticals based in Mumbai, to issue a so-called Clean Report of Inspection and Analysis (CRIA) for all shipments from India. Quntrol shall conduct document verification, physical inspection of the consignment and sampling, for laboratory testing for each shipment. If conformity is established at all levels, Quntrol shall issue the mandatory CRIA document.

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With 2.5 million people, Gambia is one of Africa’s smallest and poorest countries. The World Bank is funding a testing laboratory in Gambia but it is not yet finished. At least 70 children, most of them under the age of 5, died in Gambia last year due to acute kidney injury that doctors have linked to adulterated cough syrups from India. The World Health Organization said last year that the India-made cough syrups contained lethal toxins ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – commonly used in car brake fluid and other products not fit for human consumption.