WHO calls for urgent global action on contamination of medicines with toxic chemicals

New Delhi, July 24 The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday called out the need for urgent regulatory action against contamination of medicines with industrial-grade toxic chemicals, posing severe health risks, especially among children.

Calling it a “tragic and ongoing public health crisis”, the WHO mainly focussed on diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG).

“These substances are used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents but can cause severe health issues and be fatal if ingested, even in small amounts, especially for children. They are often illegally substituted for pharmaceutical-grade excipients such as propylene glycol, glycerin, and sorbitol -- ingredients used in the formulation of medicines, including cough and paracetamol syrups,” the WHO said.

In a report jointly released with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global health body unveiled critical findings on the persistent and preventable threat of contaminated medicines, which claimed the lives and compromised the health of countless patients, predominantly children, through the ingestion of medicines with dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals.

“Over the past 90 years, at least 25 documented incidents of excipient contamination have resulted in more than 1,300 deaths worldwide, many of them children,” the WHO said. The more recent case was in The Gambia, in which at least 66 children lost their lives, quickly followed by similar incidents in Indonesia and Uzbekistan, with a further 268 reported deaths.

“These incidents occur often due to systemic vulnerabilities in the global supply chain of pharmaceutical excipients, and they have disproportionately affected people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where regulatory oversight and access to quality-assured medicines may be limited,” the WHO said.

The report also revealed how criminal networks exploit market volatility and regulatory gaps to introduce toxic substitutes into the supply chain. These include the use of falsified labels and substitution of toxic chemicals for legitimate excipients such as propylene glycol; the marketing of falsified excipients via online platforms, including e-commerce and social media, among others.

The WHO called for urgent global action to close regulatory gaps, strengthen oversight of excipient supply chains, and protect all populations, especially children, from preventable and deadly poisoning.

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