WHO confirm Tanzania FDA as Africa's first well-functioning regulatory body

Tanzania has become the first country in Africa to achieve a well-functioning regulatory system for medical products, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Tanzania Food and Drug authority (TFDA) is said to have made considerable improvements in recent years in ensuring the safety and quality of medicines.

"This is a major African milestone and we are very proud of Tanzania's achievement, which we hope will inspire other countries in the region," says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "Access to medicines alone, without quality assurance, is not enough. With this milestone Tanzania makes a big step towards improving the quality of its health care services."

Fewer than 30% of the world’s medicines regulatory authorities are considered to be capable and well-functioning. Thus the WHO has helped in supporting African countries in strengthening their regulatory entities in recent years.

"The core of WHO's work is to empower countries through support and knowledge transfer so that they can expand access to health services for their populations," says Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals. "If countries want to improve health outcomes, they first need to ensure access to safe and quality medical products that actually work and benefit patients."  

The WHO assesses regulatory bodies through its ‘Global Benchmarking Tool’ which measure function based on a set of more than 200 indicators in order to establish level of maturity.

Established in 2003, the TFDA has become a recognised leader in medicines regulation in Africa.  

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