4th Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation Week Kicks-Off in Maputo, Oct 28

The fourth edition of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) Week, a crucial touchpoint in ongoing efforts to expand access to quality-assured medicines in Africa, is set to take place from October 28 to November 1, 2024 in Maputo, Mozambique.

This year’s biennial event, organized by the Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) Joint Secretariat – comprising the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) – marks 15 years of the AMRH’s contributions to regulatory harmonisation across Africa and its role in laying the foundation for the African Medicines Agency (AMA).

The theme of the 2024 AMRH Week i.e “15 Years of AMRH as a Foundation for AMA”, celebrates the progress made over the past decade and a half in strengthening medicines regulatory systems on the continent. The event will bring together African leaders, policymakers, regional economic communities (RECs), members of AMRH Technical Committees (AMRH TCs), and various stakeholders from both governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Among others, the objectives of the 4th AMRH week is to showcase the AMRH TCs’ success stories, best practices and lessons learnt; Adoption of strategies for medium to long-term priorities and interventions in the prevention, detection, and response to substandard and falsified medical products on the continent; Launch of the AMRH information management systems as well as strengthening partnerships for collective action ahead of the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency (AMA).

Since its inception in 2018, the AMRH Week has served as a key platform for medicine stakeholders to reflect on the successes and challenges of the AMRH initiative. This year’s event will focus on lessons learned over the last 15 years, best practices, and strategies for improving regulatory systems to combat substandard and falsified medicines in Africa. Additionally, the event will feature the launch AMRH’s new information management systems aimed at improving regulatory coordination across the continent.

Key activities during the weeklong commemoration will include meetings on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP); Medicines Policy and Regulatory Reforms (MPRR), and the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMP) as well as the Annual 11 Regional Centres of Regulatory Excellence (RCOREs) Meeting. The event will culminate with the African Medicines Regulators Conference (AMRC), a closed session for heads of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and other high-level stakeholders to discuss regulatory capacity development, among others.

The AMRH Week is expected to yield several important outcomes, including the adoption of continental guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as well as strengthened partnerships to address medicines regulatory challenges in Africa.

AUDA NEPAD said the event is poised to be a significant step towards achieving greater harmonisation in Africa’s medicines regulatory space, furthering the mission of the AMRH and supporting the operationalisation of AMA. It also seeks to concretize innovative responses to the fight against sub-standard and falsified medicines and feature the launch AMRH information management systems as well as driving collective action to ensure the safety, quality, and accessibility of medicines across the continent.