Egyptian Drug Authority pays courtesy call to VP Chiwenga

A delegation of members from the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) paid a courtesy call to the Vice President and Health and Child Care Minister DrConstantine Chiwenga ahead of a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

By Kudakwashe Pembere

The EDA is an initiative for” an organization within the Ministry of Health that is responsible for safeguarding people health by regulating safety and quality of medicines (human and veterinary), biologicals, medical devices, cosmetics, dietary supplements and pesticides.

Leading the EDA delegation is Professor Tamer Essam and also present was the Egyptian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Salma Mowafi.

Speaking to the media, VP Chiwenga said the MOU would set the tone for cooperation between Egypt and Zimbabwe in control of medicines.

We had a very short and precise meeting with Professor Essam who is the chairman of the Egyptian drug authority. They are coming here so that after going through other issues there will be a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Arab Republic of Zimbabwe by the EDA chairperson Prof Tamer Essam and the director general of MCAZ Mr Richard Rukwata and I think on that we shall be talking a lot.

“Basically we are cooperating in the areas in terms of medicines and drugs. And the control of those drugs so that if they are registered in Egypt they are automatically registered in Egypt. If we register something, automatically it is accepted in Egypt,” he said.

The EDA chairperson said their cooperation fosters the countries relationship in the area of pharmaceuticals.

‘It is our pleasure to be here. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about our historical and future cooperation between Egypt and Zimbabwe especially in the highly strategic topic regarding pharmaceuticals for Zimbabwean and Egyptian citizens.

“What we are going to do is exchanging knowledge and experience from Zimbabwean side, and vice-versa. In order to exchange knowledge and capacity building and of course making good reliance practices between Egypt and Zimbabwe,” he said.

A tour of the MCAZ facility in Harare ensued post the Prof Essam also said they were pleased with what he saw saying the future is bright for the local medicines and medical devices regulator.

“They have very good potential and a very good educated staff and they are having a good future. MCAZ has a good future and they are starting to go through the WHO Global benchmarking tool (GPT ) and it is a very important part which will enhance its functions,” he said.

MCAZ director general Mr Richard Rukwata said these are exciting times for the Authority teaming up with the EDA which will be guiding them in various facets.

“As Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) we are extremely excited to be headed into this new direction with our sister agency, the Egyptian Drug Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The EDA is one of the best and most progressive authority on the African continent. I did pay a visit to the EDA in March and I was very impressed with how far they have come.

“Right now we are pursuing the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool Level 3 Maturity. And the EDA has already achieved that. We appreciate that we have a lot to learn. The Egyptian pharmaceutical industry is massive. As you know our leadership is very interested in the development of our own local industry.

“And it all starts with the regulatory environment. If you have an enabling regulatory environment, you can actually grow the industry. We have a lot to learn from our Northern Africa brothers.

“And one of those issues is how to utilize the regulatory framework to develop industry, to provide for medicines for our people. Partnering with them in the form of sharing and exchanging information will also facilitate later transfer of technology. Because as you know the pharmaceutical industry is resource intensive.

“We will also be looking at a future whereby we will be having Egyptian manufacturers coming down to Zimbabwe to invest in our local pharmaceutical industry on the heels of the Intrapharma Zimbabwe investment which as you know is a partnership between EUA and the Sovereign Fund under the Ministry of Finance. All these are exciting developments as far as we are concerned and we can’t wait to finalise the administrative arrangements so that we get cracking on collaborating with the EDA,” he said.

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