By Staff Reporter
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), allowing the two regulators to develop a cooperative partnership towards ensuring access to safe, quality, and effective health products in the respective countries.
This is the second MOU following the signing ceremony between MCAZ and the Egyptian Drug Authority (FDA) last year.
MCAZ and SAHPRA will cooperate in joint products reviews and inspections to enable efficient access to health products.
This partnership will also focus on detection and curbing of substandard and falsified health products moving between the two countries, which has of late been a major challenge that the two regulators have identified.
“This landmark event marks a significant step towards strengthening the regulatory frameworks of both Zimbabwe and South Africa in the pharmaceutical sector.
“The MoU is designed to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in the areas of medicines regulation, quality control, and pharmacovigilance”, noted MCAZ Director-General, Mr Richard Rukwata.
SAHPRA CEO, Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela said. “The forging of partnerships such as this MoU with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, a fellow African National Regulatory Authority, is key to further enhancing and building capacity on the continent.”
MCAZ public relations officer Mr Davidson Kaiyo said the signing of MOUs with their African counterparts guarantees safe and efficacious medical products for Zimbabweans.
