Faith Nyasuguta
Over the weekend, the Rwandan government and the African Union Commission (AUC) concluded discussions for the establishment of the headquarters of the first ever African Medicines Agency in Kigali.
Rwanda sealed a deal with the African Union to host the headquarters of the African Medicines Agency( AMA) in Kigali.
The signing came just a few days after the Rwandan authorities officially gave a nod to hosting the AMA’s headquarters on their territory.
African countries adopted the treaty establishing the Agency in 2019, but it came into force in 2021.
Its creation is part of the African Union’s strategy to reduce the continent’s dependence on pharmaceutical products supplied by foreign countries.
Currently, the African continent imports 97% of the pharmaceutical products it needs.
The agency is set to regulate and harmonize this market on the continent, encourage production in Africa and counter the traffic in counterfeit medicines.
According to Minata Samaté Cessouma, AU Commissioner for Health, Africa must prepare for other pandemics after Covid-19, and the agency’s objective will be to propose “African solutions”.
Over four years since the adoption of the treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency, this marks the first step towards making this new African Union body operational, according to the Rwandan Minister of Health, Sabin Nsanzimana.
Staff recruitment will be discussed in ten days’ time, again in Kigali, during the second extraordinary session of the 23 States that have ratified the treaty establishing the agency.
RELATED:
1 Comment
This is remarkable, a great start to a promising future. Lets get the implementation right and the rest will be history. Only African grown and driven solutions will save Africa.