By Bunmi Yekini
Alliance to launch joint advocacy campaign, convene Africa Patient Safety Summit in Rwanda
The African Medicines Agency (AMA) and Medicines for Africa (MFA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen advocacy and communication efforts aimed at combating the circulation of substandard and falsified medical products across Africa, the organisations said on Wednesday.
The agreement will see the continental medicines regulator draw on MFA’s expertise in advocacy and communications to support African national regulatory authorities in efforts to curb the spread of unsafe medicines, which the World Health Organization says remain a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries.
AMA Director-General Delese Mimi Darko said stronger regulatory cooperation and harmonisation were essential to improving access to safe and effective medical products across the continent.
“Substandard and falsified medical products thrive on fragmented supply chains and regulatory oversight,” Darko said.
“By strengthening continental coordination and regulatory harmonisation on substandard and falsified medical products, and combining this with the targeted public engagement that MFA leads, we will ensure that regulatory excellence translates into safer outcomes for patients and stronger public confidence in medical products.”
According to the WHO, around one in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries fails quality testing, exposing patients to potentially severe or fatal health consequences while undermining confidence in healthcare systems.
The two organisations said fragmented supply chains and weak regulatory oversight have created opportunities for unsafe medicines to enter markets across the continent, making collaboration between regulators, governments and advocacy groups increasingly important.
MFA Founder and Chief Executive Officer Lenias Hwenda said the partnership would place patient safety at the centre of Africa’s medicines agenda.
“Together with the African Medicines Agency, we will undertake joint communication and advocacy programmes and initiatives that will help in combatting the circulation of substandard and falsified medical products in Africa,” Hwenda said.
The organisations said their first joint initiative under the partnership will be the Africa Patient Safety Summit, scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda, on Sept. 16-17, 2026.
The summit is expected to bring together governments, medicines regulators, healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical industry representatives, researchers, innovators and development partners to strengthen collective action on patient safety and address the growing threat posed by substandard and falsified medical products across Africa.