The Indian government has suspended with immediate effect the production of contaminated cough and cold syrups linked to the deaths of at least sixty-nine children in The Gambia.

Health authorities in India said on Wednesday that they had ordered the New Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals to stop all manufacturing after a WHO report on the tragic incident.

According to data, India supplies 45% of all generic medicines to Africa and the deaths of 69 children in the Gambia come as a blow to the industry whose exports grossed about 24.5 billion US dollars in the last 10 years.

State officials in addition said they closed Maiden’s main factory after four separate inspection tours and the subsequent discovery of the pharmaceutical company’s violations in drugs manufacturing and testing activities.

The drugs exported to the Gambia were made by Maiden in a single batch in December last year at its main factory in Haryana's Sonipat district, north of New Delhi, with a use-by-date of November 2024.

The government has formed a committee of four experts that will advise further action after examining and analyzing adverse event reports, causal relationships and all related details shared by the World Health Organization.