The African Union Commission (AUC) has expressed gratitude to the NEPAD Agency, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank (WB) for supporting and sponsoring the development of key working documents to facilitate the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA). This was revealed during the Second Task Team meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 7– 8 June, 2016.

The meeting was organized by the AMA Joint Secretariat comprised of the NEPAD Agency, AUC and WHO to examine and revise the AMA draft legal and institutional framework and draft business plan. This is in line with the January 2015 decision of the 26^th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council recognizing the need to strengthen the regulatory capacity of medical products in Africa, as well as harmonization of medicines regulatory systems as a foundation for the establishment of a single regulatory agency on the continent within the context of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) Programme, which is part of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) Framework.

“The establishment of the AMA shall build upon already existing structures of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States that have already started implementing the AMRH programmes within the framework of the PMPA,” NEPAD Agency Pharmaceutical Coordinator, Margareth Ndomondo-Sigonda explained.

AUC Head of Social Welfare division Dr Johanne Strijdom said that this critical meeting has come at the right time when AU leaders have adopted the first 10-year implementation plan for Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, both of which emphasize the significant role health is expected to play.

“Our role is to facilitate the establishment and operationalization of institutions and systems to enhance access to good quality medicines and technologies for the people of our continent,” Dr Strijdom said.

The main role of the Task Team is to build consensus on the key milestones towards the establishment of the AMA as agreed by the ministers of health during the first joint AU/WHO Ministerial Conference held in April, 2014 in Luanda, Angola, and define how to facilitate the implementation process and work out detailed modalities, institutional framework, legal and financial implications.

Source - NEPAD