By Kuda Pembere
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has heaped with praise from local stakeholders in the human and animal medicines sectors and a visiting Ugandan regulatory delegation for digitising its operations and reducing the time taken to approve medical products.
The commendations came on Monday during the launch of MCAZ’s Client Service Charter in Harare, which sets out the regulator’s service standards and commitments to clients and stakeholders.
MCAZ public relations manager Davidson Kaiyo told journalists the charter was intended to improve the ease of doing business, ensure predictable service delivery and promote equal treatment of stakeholders.
“In the spirit of the ease of doing business that is being championed by the Government of Zimbabwe, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe has launched its Client Service Charter, where we are committing to our clients and our stakeholders that we work with in various sectors,” Kaiyo said.
He said the authority had set service standards to ensure that clients could access its services within specified timelines.
“If they know that a licence is supposed to be ready in two days, that is what we promise to our people. And we say that we will register a medicine in 45 days, for example, that is what we intend to achieve and to manage,” he said.
Kaiyo said the charter would also help ensure that Zimbabweans had timely access to medicines that were safe, effective and of good quality.
He said MCAZ intended to maintain its World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Benchmarking Tool Maturity Level 4 status, which recognises regulatory systems that meet the WHO’s highest maturity level.
“As a leading regulator in Africa, we want to make sure that we maintain those high standards that are being recognised worldwide, that we are a regulator that delivers,” he said.
Kaiyo cited the registration of lenacapavir last year, which he said was completed in 23 days, as an example of the authority’s performance.
“Remember, last year when we registered Lenacapavir, we took 23 days, which is actually a record breaking,” he said.
Lenacapavir is a long-acting HIV prevention medicine.
Kalungi Fred Kabuye, a public relations officer at Uganda’s National Drug Authority (NDA), said the delegation was spending a week in Zimbabwe to learn how MCAZ manages external communications, handles client complaints and delivers regulatory services.
He said Uganda’s regulator was at WHO Maturity Level 3 and hoped to learn from Zimbabwe’s experience as it worked towards Level 4.
“We very well know that Zimbabwe Medicine Control Authority is being pre-qualified at level 4 by WHO and National Drug Authority is at level 3. That means there is a lot that we can learn from Zimbabwe so that at one time, we are also going to be at level 4,” Kabuye said.
He said MCAZ’s digitised systems stood out because they allowed clients to access services remotely, including outside normal office hours.
“When it comes to their documentation system, you’ll find that they are very much digitalized, which simplifies the work for the client so that wherever a client could be, can easily access services, be it on weekend, be it after office,” he said.
Kabuye said Uganda had also digitised some services, but others remained manual. He cited expensive internet access and connectivity challenges in some areas as obstacles to expanding digital services.
He said the volume of applications received by Uganda’s regulator also contributed to longer processing timelines for some services.
However, Kabuye said Uganda’s system offered a lesson for Zimbabwe in bringing services closer to clients through decentralisation.
The NDA has 10 regional offices, allowing clients to access services without travelling to its central offices, he said.
Kabuye also praised MCAZ’s approach to enforcement, saying effective regulation was necessary to protect human and animal health.
Local stakeholders from the human and animal medicines sectors also commended MCAZ’s use of digital systems and efforts to reduce the time taken to approve medical products.
