Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE has become only the fourth country in the world to have its medicines regulator, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ), attain the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 4 status, placing the country among the world’s top-performing regulatory authorities for medical products.
The milestone was announced by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohammed Yakub Janabi, during a meeting with Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora in Harare this morning.
The WHO Global Benchmarking Tool assesses the performance of national medicines regulatory authorities against internationally recognised standards.
Maturity Level 4 is the highest level of performance, indicating that a regulatory authority has advanced systems that consistently ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of medical products while continuously improving its regulatory functions.
The latest achievement builds on Zimbabwe’s earlier attainment of WHO Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 3, which recognised that MCAZ had established a stable, well-functioning and integrated regulatory system capable of effectively overseeing medicines and other medical products.
Since then, the authority has continued strengthening its regulatory systems and institutional capacity, paving the way for the attainment of the highest Maturity Level 4 status.
Dr Janabi described the latest recognition as an extraordinary milestone that places Zimbabwe among a select group of countries with the world’s most advanced medicines regulatory systems.
“Zimbabwe’s achievement is extraordinary. Zimbabwe is only the fourth country in the world to have attained WHO Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 4 status,” he said..
“There were only three countries before that, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Now, proudly, as the WHO, I can stand and say Zimbabwe.”
He said the recognition reflects confidence in Zimbabwe’s regulatory systems and positions the country to play a bigger role in Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing agenda.
“This accomplishment demonstrates regional leadership and inspires confidence in the quality, safety and effectiveness of medical products,” he said.
“It also positions Zimbabwe as an important contributor to Africa’s health product manufacturing and regulatory agenda.”
Dr Janabi, however, stressed that maintaining the status would require sustained commitment and continuous improvement.
“Reaching Maturity Level 4 is one thing. Sustaining it is completely different, but we are going to work with you to make sure Zimbabwe maintains the Maturity Level 4 that it has achieved,” he said.
The achievement is expected to strengthen investor confidence in Zimbabwe’s pharmaceutical sector, facilitate regional cooperation in medicines regulation and support the country’s ambition to become a hub for the production and regulation of quality-assured medical products in Africa.
The WHO Regional Director is in Zimbabwe to participate in the ongoing SADC Inter-Ministerial Meeting of Ministers of Finance and Health, where regional leaders are discussing sustainable health financing and strategies to strengthen health systems across Southern Africa.
