Pilot project in Togo
The Togolese Republic has volunteered to launch a pilot project to develop and implement a national plan to combat FSMs and to model the development methodology so that it can be adapted in other volunteer countries.
The fight against FSMs in Togo
Situated in West Africa, with a surface area of 56,785 km2, the Republic of Togo is bordered to the north by Burkina Faso, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea, to the east by Benin and to the west by Ghana, whose border point is right in the capital, Lomé. In 2022, its population is estimated at 8.6 million.
In Togo, trafficking and the sale of counterfeit medicines is a simple offence punishable by light penalties. In the fight against FSM, the Togolese Republic :
- Signed and ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in July 2004
(Palermo Convention);
- Was invited to sign the MEDICRIME Convention, the first international convention criminalizing the production
and trafficking of fake medicines
- Signed the treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency (AMA) of the African Union (AU)
, whose aim is to harmonize the regulation of medical products across the continent.
Working meeting at the WHO Togo office chaired by Professor Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care, with Dr. Fatoumata Binta Diallo, WHO Resident Representative in Togo and Mr. Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of the Brazzaville Foundation.
Objectives and expected results
The mission will start with an identification of needs around the four selected themes
(public health, safety, rule of law, health economics).
This identification will enable us to identify:
1. Needs;
2. The resources required to cover each need;
3. Existing and potential partners to contribute resources.
Objective 1:
Develop the national plan to fight against FSMs in Togo
1. Consultation with all the ministerial departments concerned (Health, Justice, Interior, Defense, Finance, Commerce and Industry) in order to involve them in the elaboration and the implementation of the plan
2. Consultation with all private sector and civil society stakeholders to involve them in the development
and implementation of the plan
3. Develop and operationalise the plan
4. Identification of existing programmes with the various technical and financial partners (TFPs)
5. Elaboration of a budget allowing the implementation of the national plan in Togo in consultation with the TFPs
Objective 2:
Model the working methodology for replication and adaptation in Lomé Initiative countries
1. Model the methodology
2. Strengthen coordination with other signatory countries
3. Draft of specifications
4. Create a toolkit
Method modeling
The feedback expected from the elaboration of the national plan against the FSMs in Togo will allow to improve this national plan and to design more precisely the future national plans of control in the other countries signatory of the Lomé Initiative.
To this end, a two-pronged action plan will be implemented:
1. Compilation of best practices identified in other countries (benchmarking).
2. The implementation of a continuous assessment and improvement system.
Perspectives 2023-2027
The year 2023 will be used to set up and launch the project. It will also enable us to:
1. Refine the inventory of needs, resources and partners to meet them.
2. Carry out the first consultations within the inter-ministerial framework (action lever #1)
then with the private sector and civil society (action lever #2).
Partnership framework
Project owner
Main contractor
Brazzaville Foundation will act as project manager. To this end, it will provide a mission manager based in Lomé, in charge of coordinating technical support for the pilot project.
Technical and financial partners
Several technical and financial partners have been identified for this project. Working meetings have already been held with WHO Togo, UNDP Togo, the World Bank, UNFPA and UNICEF.
The pilot project will align with UNDP and World Bank planning for 2023-2027, and WHO for 2023-2024.
