Rwanda to host the headquarters of the African Medicines Agency

The main objective of the AAM is to improve the capacity of member states and enhanced educational centers (RECs) to regulate medical products in order to improve access to quality, safe, and effective medical products for African populations.

The agency's responsibilities will include supporting the growth of local pharmaceutical production, evaluating medical products for the treatment of priority diseases identified by the African Union, and inspecting, coordinating, and sharing information on a regular basis on products that are approved for marketing.

The signatory countries of the Lomé Initiative against Falsified and Substandard Medicines (Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda) and Brazzaville Foundation, the initiative's task manager, welcome this decision. Several countries, as well as the Foundation, had ardently supported the action of Michel Sidibé, AU Special Envoy for the creation of the AAM.

As a reminder, the political declaration signed in Lomé on January 18, 2020 by the Heads of State and their representatives includes the signing of the treaty establishing the AAM and its operationalisation.

For Brazzaville Foundation and for the signatory countries of the Lomé Initiative, one of the next steps towards legislative harmonisation at the continental level will be to adapt the AU model pharmaceutical law to the regulatory needs of each country.

Find the guiding principles and functions of the AAM within of the treaty establishing it.