By Catherine Murombedzi
Health Correspondent
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) is among 7 regulators that signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and African Union Development Agency — New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD). These are World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level 3 National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs).
The landmark agreement fosters collaboration and strengthens regulatory systems across the continent. The agreement, signed by regulatory authorities from Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, aims to create a framework that streamlines regulatory decisions, accelerates access to essential medicines, vaccines, and medical devices, and promotes collaboration on vaccine lot releases.
Key Benefits of the Agreement:
● Efficient Regulatory Processes: Sharing of assessment reports, quality control of laboratory results, and good manufacturing/clinical practice inspection reports to reduce duplication of work and enhance efficiency
● Timely Access to Medicines: Leveraging shared regulatory decisions to accelerate access to essential medicines, vaccines, and medical devices across Africa.
● Strengthened Collaboration: Fostering a cooperative environment where regulatory authorities can support one another, benefiting from each other’s scientific expertise while maintaining their independent regulatory responsibilities
● Optimised Resource Use: Countries with limited regulatory resources can rely on stronger agencies, allowing them to enhance their regulatory capacity without compromising public health standards.
This agreement represents a significant milestone in strengthening Africa’s regulatory systems and supports the broader continental agenda of ensuring timely access to safe and effective medical products. It also aligns with the upcoming transition towards the operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), reinforcing the need for harmonised regulatory processes to safeguard health systems on the continent.
The strengthening of Africa’s regulatory systems is a new era in healthcare collaboration.
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