Children are dying. We need a worldwide medicines treaty to avoid further tragedies

Eight of the 71 Gambian children who died in cases linked to Indian cough syrup. Clockwise from top left: Isatou Jobarteh, Sulayman Fadera, Babacarr Njie, Ismaila Danso, Aminata Dambelleh, Mohamed Kijera, Adama Saidy and Lamin Sagnia. Photograph: Reuters

In the last six months, there have been four global alerts from the World Health Organization (WHO) for “Made in India” medicine where patients have either died, been blinded or suffered adverse incidents.

Two alerts, one in October and the other in January, were for adulterated cough syrups manufactured by two different Indian companies. These syrups are suspected to have caused the deaths of up to 71 children in the Gambia and 18 children in Uzbekistan. A third alert, in December, involved a cancer drug sold in Yemen and Lebanon which was found to be contaminated with dangerous bacteria. The fourth alert, in February, was for eyedrops sold in 55 countries that the WHO recommend be removed from circulation due to quality issues.