The Food and Drugs Authority’s (FDA) Drugs Laboratory at the Centre for Laboratory Services and Research (CLSR) has been awarded a World Health Organisation-Prequalified Quality Control Laboratory (QCL) Status.
This achievement makes the FDA the only food and drugs regulatory agency in the ECOWAS sub-region to be recognized internationally as a competent institution to test medicines and medical products under WHO auspices.
This also means that results of medicines tested by the FDA would henceforth become acceptable to all countries, a statement issued in Accra has said.
Based on this new status, the FDA’s Laboratory would now serve as a Regional Centre of Excellence and train other National Drug Regulatory Agencies in the sub region.
The FDA can fully participate in international tenders to analyse products that are to be procured by UN agencies, such as UNICEF and the Global Fund; and the Certificate of Analysis for locally manufactured medicines in Ghana shall receive international recognition and thereby boost their permeation into the international market.
It said with the prequalified lab in Ghana, the African Continental Free Trade Area provided additional opportunity to Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies within the Africa market.
The FDA’s Laboratory has by this feat become a key international player in the testing and verifying of Finished Pharmaceutical Products to ensure that they meet international standards of safety, quality, and efficacy, and will therefore require all the necessary support to maintain this new status.
It noted that, with this achievement, the FDA might be invited to participate in WHO prequalification monitoring projects that were undertaken periodically to assess the quality of medicines procured by UN agencies.
The Authority assured all its readiness to provide effective regulation to support the national vaccine manufacturing agenda, and ensure access to quality, safe and efficacious vaccines and medicines for the nation and the African Continent.
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