The African Medicines Agency, a specialized health agency of the African Union, enters into another year of setting up its structures. Key to this is the appointment of a director general, which some speculate could happen in the coming months.
Once operationalized, the new agency will be tasked with improving regulatory harmonization of medicines across the continent. Countries across the continent face challenges in ensuring medicines are not fake or substandard and fragmented, often weak regulatory systems and porous borders make fighting this difficult. The continent currently imports the majority of its drugs and vaccines so countries are also working to boost their pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors.
Because of this, AMA is expected to play many roles, such as ensuring the quality of drugs that are imported, providing scientific guidelines, as well as ensuring the quality of drugs manufactured locally is up to par.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
