Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
THE Rwanda Food and Drug Authority is set to collaborate with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) in the regulation of medicines as African countries seek to strengthen the continent’s pharmaceutical industry.
The visiting delegation from the Rwanda Food and Drug Authority which was in the country for a six-day visit to study the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe’s quality management system, says coming to Zimbabwe was the right move.
“Choosing MCAZ will ensure your system will be good. That’s why we chose MCAZ. We were impressed and we were not disappointed in choosing MCAZ. We have passed through the system of MCAZ and we saw what a well-established system looks like. We liked the way how all staff has been brought on board which has helped MCAZ produce excellent results and protect public health through the regulation of medicines.
“From what we saw quality management system is universal and we have also realised that we are in a good way. What we are lacking is to bring everyone on board that’s why as Rwanda FDA we have chosen to collaborate with regulatory authorities including MCAZ,” said Rwanda FDA Quality Assurance Analyst, Mr Theogene Ndayambaje.
According to Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe Director General Mr Richard Rukwata, the authority is honoured to have countries like Rwanda come to study their system.
“We feel extremely honoured, we all know how successful Rwanda is as a nation and particularly concerning how quickly and effectively they have developed their systems. They could have visited many other national medicines regulatory authorities closer to them who have achieved maturity level three under the who global benchmarking tool. So for them to track down south to come and see our systems we were truly honoured. We take that as validation that as MCAZ we are in the right direction that we have built centres of excellence. We are also willing to interact with fellow National regulatory authorities to ensure that our people have access to safe medicines,” he said.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe is responsible for protecting public and animal health by ensuring that accessible medicines and allied substances and medical devices are safe, effective and of good quality through ensuring adherence to standards by manufacturers and distributors.
