World Health Organization (WHO) has urged member countries to take immediate action on sub-standard medicines to prevent child deaths.

Since October, last year seven countries have reported incidents of contaminated medicines containing diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, toxic chemicals used for industrial purposes.

Last year, three hundred children in total died aged five and younger in The Gambia, Uzbekistan and Indonesia after taking sub-standard medicines that caused acute kidney injuries.

In all instances, the WHO issued a global alert demanding countries to immediately withdraw the medicines from the market and increase surveillance to detect them.