MCAZ seeks amendment of Act

Gloria Muruva and Valerie Mpundu

Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has called for the amendment of the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act, in line with the changing regulatory, pharmaceutical and health products landscape.

Amending the Act would also help in controlling the quality, safety and effectiveness of all medical products.

Speaking at a recent workshop, MCAZ director general Mr Richard Rukwata said the current Act has been in place for several years and needs to move with the times.

“The amendment of the Act will enable us to comply with international best practices, including the World Health Organisation Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT).

“This will not only enhance our regulatory capabilities, but also enable us to attain a higher regulatory maturity level and ultimately safeguard the health of our citizens,” said Mr Rukwata.

He said as a national regulatory body, they have the mandate to ensure all medical products circulating in the country meet the required standards and pose no threat to the health and well-being of citizens.

Amending the law is also in line with Outcome 9 of the Ministry of Health and Child Care Strategic Plan for 2021-2023, which aims to consolidate the mandate of MCAZ and review the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act (Chapter 15.03).

Head of licensing and enforcement division at MCAZ, Ms Caroline Samatanga, said: “The MCAZ has come up with regulations to Invitro diagnostics, which include test kits like pregnancy and Covid-19 among others.

“The authority would want to make sure the citizens use test kits of good quality, which are safe and effective.”

Ms Samatanga said those already in the market would be given a timeline for them to be regularised.

“We will come up with transactional arrangements and communicate with different stakeholders on what they are going to do and how they are going to handle those that are already in the market.

“We will register them and give them time to regularise,” she said.