Honorable Ministers and heads of delegations;
Your Excellency, the AU Commissioner of Social Affairs;
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
I congratulate the African Union Commission for organizing this side event, and in particular, the leadership of Her Excellency, the Commissioner for Social Affairs. I’m very pleased to have participated in the deliberations. The draft Treaty for Establishment of the African Medicines Agency which we discussed this evening is an important milestone.
Going forward, there is still much work to be done between now and the launch of the AMA, and WHO is ready to provide necessary technical support.
We welcome efforts of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Initiative, (coordinated by the NEPAD Agency), and the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (coordinated by WHO), for strengthening the regulatory capacity of the regional economic communities, which we strongly believe is crucial for the establishment and functioning of the African Medicines Agency.
I’d like to pay tribute to all the Ministers of Health, heads of delegations and all participants from Member States for their valuable inputs and engagement in reviewing the Treaty.
To our Chair this evening, who is also the Chair of the Task Team for the operationalization of the AMA, thank you for your leadership in our deliberations tonight.
I also recognize my colleagues for their excellent contributions to this important milestone.
WHO will continue its mandatory role of providing normative and technical support for strengthening these regulatory authorities.
Finally, I want to emphasize that WHO will continue to collaborate with the AUC and the NEPAD Agency to operationalize the African Medicines Agency, and work with the AMA within a framework that clearly defines roles and responsibilities, underpinned by accountability and transparency.
Thank you.