Several tainted syrups and suspension medications have been found in countries within the WHO regions, according to the WHO.
The Western Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Americas are among the WHO regions that comprise these areas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the impacted items were initially discovered in Pakistan and the Maldives and were produced by Pharmix Laboratories in Pakistan. Belize, Fiji, and Laos have also been discovered to contain some contaminated products. Pharmix did not respond to requests for comment right away.
The WHO reported that the medications, which were liquids with active ingredients to treat different ailments, had levels of the contaminant ethylene glycol that were intolerable.
The WHO has previously issued several alerts concerning similarly tainted medications manufactured in Indonesia and India that were connected to the deaths of about 300 children globally last year. This alert is the most recent in this series.
The WHO said in a statement that it has not received any reports of adverse events involving the syrups made in Pakistan, but it urged nations to increase their vigilance and test the company's products between December 2021 and December 2022.
The Australian regulator verified the contamination discovered in Alergo syrup during a routine inspection conducted in November by the Food and Drug Authority of the Maldives.
The WHO reported that the contaminated batches of Alergo syrup, Emidone suspension, Mucorid syrup, Ulcofin suspension, and Zincell syrup totaled 23. Thus far, only Alergo has been discovered outside of Pakistan.
The alert said that the contamination levels were between 0.62% and 0.82%, as opposed to the permitted threshold of no more than 0.10%. The goods are made in different ways to address coughing, allergies, and other medical conditions.
