The world’s health depends on generic medicines produced in India. But questions about the quality of those generics — and India’s ability to regulate the industry — have been resurrected following several fatal incidents in recent months, including two separate events last year where tainted cough syrup imported from India was linked to the deaths of 66 children in Gambia and 18 children in Uzbekistan.
Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers provide 20% of the world’s supply of generic medicines. They play a more outsized role in the global south, particularly in Africa, where patients and providers depend on affordable generic medicines.
Where wealthier nations have the regulatory capacity to test many medicines before they reach the consumer and even to travel to India to do factory inspections, says public health activist Dinesh Thakur, in places like “the Gambia, Uzbekistan, the state doesn’t have the capacity to regulate” and ensure that such imports are safe for consumers.