Togo is strengthening its oversight of the pharmaceutical sector. Meeting on Monday in the Council of Ministers, the government adopted a decree establishing a National Agency for the Regulation of Medicines and Other Health Products, defining its responsibilities, organization and operations.
The new body is expected to strengthen pharmaceutical market surveillance and improve the oversight of products intended for public health.
Strengthening Medicine Control
According to the Council of Ministers’ statement, the agency’s responsibilities will include strengthening market surveillance, pharmaceutical inspections, vigilance mechanisms and quality control of health products.
It will also seek to improve coordination among the various stakeholders operating in the sector.
The reform comes at a time when the national regulatory system is facing several challenges. Togolese authorities have highlighted institutional, technical and operational constraints that limit the effectiveness of certain essential functions, particularly inspections, quality control, market surveillance and pharmacovigilance.
Tackling the Illicit Market
The creation of the agency also responds to the need to better combat the growth of the illicit market for health products.
The circulation of substandard or falsified medicines and other health products represents a major public health concern and, according to the authorities, requires stronger control and surveillance mechanisms.
The new agency will therefore play a central role in the regulation, supervision and monitoring of the sector.
A Major Reform of the National System
For the Togolese government, the decree represents a decisive step in reforming the national regulatory system.
The establishment of an autonomous national agency is expected to sustainably strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical regulatory capacity and improve the effectiveness of its public health protection efforts.
Through this reform, Lomé aims to establish a more coherent, efficient and better-adapted regulatory framework to address the current challenges facing the medicines and health products sector.
The objective is clear: to improve market oversight, strengthen the quality of health products and better protect the population from the risks associated with falsified or substandard medicines.
