The Mozambican Government took a significant step today towards the integration of African health systems by approving, during the 37th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers, the Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), adopted by the African Union (AU) on 11 February 2019.
According to an official statement from the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, the document will now be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic for formal ratification. The treaty entered into force on 5 November 2021, after being ratified by 15 AU member states.
The initiative aims to improve access to safe, effective and quality medicines across the continent, through the harmonisation of national regulatory systems. The creation of the AMA as a specialised agency of the African Union will allow the regulation of medical products, covering both medicines and medical devices, to be centralised in all member countries.
The agency will be responsible for coordinating the registration, licensing, manufacture and distribution of medical products, as well as carrying out safety and quality inspections, authorising clinical trials and managing appeal mechanisms.
Economic and environmental measures in the spotlight
At the same session, the Executive approved the Medium-Term Public Debt Management Strategy 2025-2029, which sets out a prudent framework for state financing, seeking to balance cost and risk. The aim is to ensure the sustainability of public debt and strengthen the credibility of Mozambican economic policy in the medium and long term.
On the environmental front, the Technical-Scientific Commission on Climate Change (CTCMC) was created, to be chaired from now on by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, reflecting the new government structure and the cross-cutting nature of environmental issues.
Place names take on new shape
Still in the administrative sphere, the Council of Ministers ratified the official recognition of 134 geographical names in various regions of the country: in the districts of Homoíne and Jangamo (Inhambane province), in the city of Tete (province of the same name), in the district of Mogovolas (Nampula) and in the city of Pemba (Cabo Delgado).
