Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Zimpapers Correspondent
AN 11-member World Health Organisation (WHO) delegation is in the country to conduct a high-level assessment of Zimbabwe’s medicines regulatory system, a move that could see the nation become the first in Africa to achieve the highest global rating.
The formal benchmarking mission, which runs from April 27 to May 1, is evaluating the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) to determine if it meets the criteria for Maturity Level 4 (ML4).
This classification represents the pinnacle of regulatory excellence under the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool.
Zimbabwe achieved Maturity Level 3 in 2021, establishing the MCAZ as a stable and well-functioning authority.
The current five-day re-benchmarking exercise aims to verify if the country has now transitioned to the advanced “Maturity Level 4”, characterised by highly robust, transparent, and accountable systems.
WHO team leader, Mr Alan Fauconnier, confirmed that his team of experts will scrutinise several indicators through technical interviews, field visits, and a specific vigilance site inspection to test the country’s medicine safety monitoring.
“The eventual goal, of course, is to hopefully see the MCAZ reaching maturity level 4, which is one of the highest levels of maturity in the regulatory system assessment,” Mr Fauconnier said.
“The expected outcomes of this mission are observing and having evidence that the Zimbabwe MCAZ is reaching all maturity level 3 sub-indicators as well as the maturity level 4 sub-indicators.”
MCAZ Head of Licensing and Enforcement Division, Mrs Caroline Samatanga, described the mission as a critical milestone for the nation’s health sector.
“This is quite an important event for Zimbabwe as we are getting assessed for strengthening our regulatory system for medicines control,” she said.
“Where we reach maturity level 4, it means we are transparent, we are accountable, and we have robust systems that can control and regulate medicines to ensure the public is safe, effective and of good quality.”
Mrs Samatanga also added that the delegation would also evaluate the authority’s progress in modern technology and digitisation.
She expressed confidence in the current systems, adding that any areas for improvement identified would be addressed through an institutional development plan.
If successful, the ML4 status will significantly enhance global confidence in Zimbabwe’s locally regulated medicines and potentially position the country as a continental leader in pharmaceutical oversight.
