EMA backs copycat agency in Africa

The European Medicines Agency has given its support to east African countries’ efforts to launch an equivalent body.

In a press release on 8 August, the EMA announced that “there is political will and a strong commitment” among east African regulators to improve public health in the region. A delegation from the East African Community visited the EMA’s headquarters in London on 18 and 19 May as part of a “benchmarking study”.

The delegation included the heads of the national health agencies from the EAC’s six member states—Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan—alongside representatives from the UN’s World Health Organization and the World Bank Group.