HEADLINES around the world recently reported the deaths of at least 20 children under the age of six in India. Their young kidneys had failed after the children consumed cough syrup containing high levels of a toxic chemical. The images of parents carrying the limp bodies of their children, who were killed instead of healed by the medicine, were heartbreaking. These headlines and images could easily have come from Pakistan.

Pakistan has been fortunate to have avoided a healthcare-related tragedy of this scale in recent months, but the risks are real and persistent. We had a massive number of deaths — over 200 — from contaminated cardiac medicines in Punjab, and thousands of children have been infected with HIV in Sindh from contaminated syringes and drips.

The situation in India must propel us towards action on strengthening our drug regulatory system, as it demonstrates that the cost of inaction is high for everyone. We know that patients suffer when unsafe medicines reach the market. But weak regulation also hurts doctors, pharmaceutical companies and regulatory bodies.

In India, the doctor who prescribed the contaminated syrup has been arrested. This shows that doctors can easily get caught in a web of legal and ethical scrutiny, even........

© Dawn