FDA Ghana CEO receives continental award

The Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) of Ghana, Dr Delese Mimi Darko received the prestigious "Africa’s Medical Products Regulation Achievers Award" during the sixth Biennial Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Cairo, Egypt in 2023. 

This recognition not only celebrates her dedication to the authority’s commitment to becoming a global centre of regulatory excellence but also positions the authority as a formidable leader on the African continent. 

The conference

The conference, organised by AUDA-NEPAD and WHO at the end of 2023 in Cairo, Egypt on the theme: "Strengthening regulatory systems for the advancement of local production and increased access to medical products and technologies for Africans,” convened over 300 policymakers, heads of National Regulatory Agencies (NRAs), researchers, manufacturers and other stakeholders across the African continent.

It was for them to share scientific advances and current best practices in regulatory science disciplines.

The conference also provided a forum to discuss strategies to strengthen regulatory systems, improve access to affordable essential medical products, vaccines and technologies, and catalyse local production of medical products in Africa.

The award acknowledged FDA Ghana as the pioneering NRA to create a Partnerships and International Collaboration Department, which is to engage in partnerships with other NRAs, key stakeholders in medicines regulation, development partners, as well as academia.

A central role of the department is to among others, facilitate national engagement on the importance of investing in resilient regulatory systems to protect public health and safety and also to mobilise critical resources to advance the mandate of the authority, as well as to strengthen collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

Since the creation of the department, the authority has trained over 221 regulators and researchers across the continent from 16 countries including The Gambia, Senegal, Gabon, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda.

Others are Guinea, Rwanda, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Cameroun, Ethiopia, Eswatini and Botswana.  

Additionally, the authority has contributed to strengthening the regulatory systems of several NRAs across the continent through study tours, mentorship twinning programmes and customised expert visits. 

MoU

Also, the authority has signed a few Memorandums of Understanding with six NRAs, mapping out several areas of collaboration and is currently actively engaged with five other NRAs, including El Salvador and Madagascar.

Under the guidance of the department, the authority, in collaboration with partners and academia, organised its first scientific forum on the theme; “Protecting Public Health and Safety Through Partnerships.”.

Recently, the AUDA-NEPAD designated the FDA Ghana as a Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence (RCORE) for Vaccine Regulatory Oversight for eight out of the nine regulatory functions.