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Following reports linking contaminated Indian cough syrups to child deaths, Sri Lankan health authorities have assured the public that none of the unsafe products have been imported or registered for sale in the country.
Fears over contaminated Indian cough syrups have put regional health authorities on alert, but Sri Lanka’s National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) has confirmed that the products in question are not available in the local market.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the syrups — identified as Coldrif (by Sresan Pharmaceutical), Respifresh TR (by Rednex Pharmaceuticals), and ReLife (by Shape Pharma) — pose serious health risks and have been linked to the deaths of several children under the age of five in India’s Madhya Pradesh state.
A senior NMRA source told the Daily Mirror that none of these three products, nor their manufacturers, are registered in Sri Lanka. “We have verified that the named products are not on the NMRA-approved drug list. Therefore, there is no possibility of these syrups being legitimately available in the local market,” the spokesperson said.
However, authorities remain vigilant, as there have been previous instances where substandard or poorly manufactured medicines from India entered Sri Lanka through emergency purchases, particularly during the tenure of former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. These incidents have raised public concern over the country’s dependence on imported pharmaceuticals and the adequacy of quality control mechanisms.
India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has confirmed that the contaminated syrups contained harmful substances capable of causing severe or potentially fatal illnesses, especially in children.
While India continues to be one of the main pharmaceutical suppliers to Sri Lanka and other countries in the region, gaps in regulatory oversight have occasionally resulted in quality issues. In 2023, two Sri Lankan patients died after being administered Indian-made anaesthetic drugs, while Indian-manufactured eye medication caused visual impairment in ten others.
Health experts stress the importance of strengthening regulatory frameworks, ensuring proper quality checks, and maintaining transparency in emergency medical imports to safeguard public health.
