Toxic Medicines Still Threaten Children’s Lives, Warns New Report

A new joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has exposed a deadly global crisis: the continued circulation of contaminated medicines, which has claimed more than 1,300 lives over the past nine decades, many of them children in low- and middle-income countries.

Titled “Contaminated Medicines and Integrity of the Pharmaceutical Excipients Supply Chain,” the report highlights how toxic industrial chemicals like diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG), typically used as antifreeze, have been substituted for pharmaceutical-grade ingredients in common medications, particularly cough and fever syrups.

Since October 2022, WHO has issued seven alerts over contaminated oral liquid medicines, including those marketed for children and exported across multiple countries. At least 66 children died in The Gambia, followed by another 268 deaths in Indonesia and Uzbekistan. The contaminated medicines were mostly inexpensive and widely available without prescriptions.

Criminal Networks and Regulatory Gaps

The report paints a grim picture of how systemic weaknesses in medicine regulation are being exploited by criminal groups. It reveals that toxic industrial chemicals are being deliberately substituted for safe pharmaceutical ingredients, often using falsified labels to pass quality checks. These dangerous practices have allowed counterfeit medicines to enter the global supply chain, putting millions at risk.

Criminals are also marketing fake pharmaceutical excipients through e-commerce platforms and social media, taking advantage of weak regulatory oversight. The report highlights a lack of control over excipient producers and distributors, as well as serious gaps in post-market surveillance and enforcement in both manufacturing and importing countries. Coordination among regulators, customs, and law enforcement is often fragmented, allowing falsified documentation and toxic products to slip through undetected.

A Call for Urgent Global Action

WHO and UNODC urge immediate reforms to prevent further tragedies. Recommendations include tightening regulations on excipient producers and distributors, strengthening post-market surveillance, and ensuring greater transparency in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The report calls for closer collaboration among health regulators, law enforcement, and private sector actors. It emphasizes the need for timely information exchange, international investigations and the use of legal tools such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

“Contaminated medicines are not just a regulatory issue. They are a criminal one,” the report states, urging governments to prosecute intentional falsification and impose stronger sanctions on non-compliant actors.

Without decisive global action, WHO and UNODC warn that more lives — especially those of children — will be lost to preventable poisoning. The organizations are calling on governments, manufacturers and excipient suppliers to take immediate steps to protect public health and restore trust in the global medicines supply.