Nigeria, July 28 -- The time for half-measures and empty promises has passed. African governments must take immediate, decisive action to combat the proliferation of substandard and falsified medical products that are killing our children and bleeding our economies dry.

Every year, 122,000 children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa die needlessly from substandard or falsified anti-malaria medication. Let that number sink in. These are not statistics - they are our children, our future, lost to a preventable crisis that demands urgent action.

The World Health Organization has directly linked 300 deaths in The Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan to contaminated batches of pediatric syrup. Meanwhile, low and middle-income countries ...