Ghana deposits ratification instrument of African Medicines Agency at AU
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ghana is now the sixth Member State to deposit the instrument of ratification of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) whose founding treaty it ratified on 24 February 2021 in Accra.
Ghana deposited the instrument of accession to the Commission of the African Union (AU) on 16 March 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Amira Elfadil Mohammed, received the instrument from the Ghananian delegation.
AMA will be the second specialised continental health agency after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) that will enhance capacity of State Parties and AU recognised Regional Economic Communities (RECs), to regulate medical products in order to improve access to quality, safe and efficacious medical products on the continent.
AMA will also coordinate and strengthen ongoing initiatives on the harmonization of medical products regulation and enhance the competence of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspectors to do so.
The agency also coordinates the collection, management, storage and sharing of information on all medical products including substandard and falsified medical products, with all its States Parties and globally.
Speaking during the official deposit of the instrument, the Ambassador of Ghana to Ethiopia and the AU, Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, acknowledged the significant role that AMA will play in protecting the pharmaceutical companies on the continent.
She reaffirmed her commitment to advocate for the signing and ratification of the AMA Treaty among other ambassadors in her region.
In the face of a looming pandemic, the necessity of AMA has been amplified and particularly its function in coordinating joint reviews of applications for conducting of clinical trials and providing technical support in quality control of drugs at the request of Member States which do not have the structures to carry out these examinations, controls and checks.
In addition, AMA will promote the adoption and harmonization of medical products regulatory policies and standards, as well as scientific guidelines, and coordinate existing regulatory harmonization efforts in the Regional Economic Communities and regional health organizations.
Encouraging all its Member States to sign and ratify the Treaty for the establishment of AMA in the interest of public health, safety and security, the AUC said the Treaty is available for signature at the headquarters of the Commission in Addis Ababa.
The African Medicines Agency will enter into force once ratified by 15 AU Member States.
-0- PANA AR/MA 19March2021
