The World Health Organisation chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has said the deaths of 70 children in the Gambia linked to four Indian-made cough syrups was a “serious issue”.

Dr Swaminathan was speaking to reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) in Pune, India. 

“Certainly, the government is in touch with WHO as WHO actually provided the report based on the investigation which was done to prove that it was because of the diethylene glycol contamination. It is a very serious issue and it has to be taken very seriously,” said India-born Swaminathan.

“In India there are central as well as state-level drug regulators and there is a need to harmonize their operations, she said.

“There are no mechanisms where regulators of different states can actually work together, do the inspections on each other’s products,” she said.