India has to do more to halt sales of toxic cough syrup, WHO says

India has more work to do in halting sales of toxic cough syrup, despite some progress, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official told Reuters, after at least 24 children died following consumption of a domestically made medicine.

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The children died after taking Coldrif cough medicine made by Sresan Pharma, which tests showed contained the toxin diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit.

This came just two years after global pledges to tighten the system following the deaths of at least 300 children around the world linked to similar toxins in syrup-based medicine made in India and Indonesia.

But enforcement issues persist, the WHO said.

"They have made some strides," said the official, Mr Rutendo Kuwana, referring to a new Indian rule requiring medicine to be tested for contaminants like diethylene and ethylene glycol before export.

However, no such rule exists for syrups sold locally - a "regulatory gap" the WHO has flagged.