The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Quality Management Solutions (QMS) to modernize its Ultra-Modern Quality Control Laboratory. The partnership intends to enhance the laboratory capabilities to meet ISO 17025 standards and World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level Three benchmarks. This will help minimize the proliferation of expired medicine products on the Liberian market. The upgrade of the laboratory is to ensure that only quality products are available on the Liberian market.
Speaking during the inception meeting in Monrovia over the weekend, the Managing Director, Dr. Luke L. Bawo, praised the move, calling it a “historic milestone for the testing of medicines, health products, and other commodities in Liberia.” He emphasized that it is the mandate of LMHRA to ensure that quality products are on the market and to determine the quality of medicine products, ensuring that only safe products are available to the public.
Bawo said the partnership is expected to have numerous benefits, including improved regulatory effectiveness, enhanced quality of products on the market and increased public trust and confidence The MoU involves an investment of US$9 million for laboratory upgrade and equipment, which will enable testing across various sectors, medicines, health products, food, animal feeds, and Petroleum products. The collaboration is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), with QMS operating as a profit-oriented entity. The agreement details how QMS will recoup its investment and how LMHRA will benefit financially, with 65% towards Quality Management Solutions and 35% to the Liberian government.
For his part, the Manager of Quality Management Solutions, Shoalib Mirza, said Quality Management Solutions will ensure that lab technicians are trained with the necessary experience in handling product testing instruments, operation, and maintenance of equipment. Mirza added that the lab will be upgraded to international standards and have the capacity to test non-alcoholic products, alcoholic products, sanitization chemical products, medical consumables, and medical equipment.
By Joseph Sirleaf/Contributing Writer
