The World Health Organization recently announced a list of regulatory agencies from 56 countries that will undergo rigorous assessments in the next five years. The goal: to potentially be part of a new list that recognizes national regulatory authorities with the capability to ensure quality and safe medicines and vaccines.
The WHO-listed authority, or WLA, is envisioned to become the new Stringent Regulatory Authorities list, which many international organizations have long relied on for the procurement of quality-assured and safe medicines and vaccines.
The SRAs are part of many international organizations’ procurement policies. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s quality assurance policy, for example, requires that medical products procured using Global Fund grants should be prequalified by WHO or approved by an SRA. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Development Bank also included this as one of the criteria for countries wishing to unlock financing from its $9 billion vaccine access facility to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.