By Tabora Bojang
Amadou Camara of Nianija yesterday moved a private members bill in the National Assembly to amend a section of the Medicines and Related Products Act 2014, to provide for a mechanism other than registration for persons to import, distribute, sell and supply medicine or related products in The Gambia from countries with stringent regulatory authorities.
Hon Camara said the current legislation which requires that all medicines imported into the country be registered, is putting serious constraints and barriers on importers to bring quality medical products.
He warned that these barriers are standout issues that need urgent intervention failure of which will create problems in the availability of drugs in the country. “If we don’t do this, tomorrow we can have problems. What we are doing with this bill is to give room for another alternative called ‘listing’, because the registration process is very critical and it can take you up to six months to register even a single paracetamol,” Camara, who is also the chairman of the Assembly’s health committee, stated.
He explained that the section, if amended, will soften certain requirements imposed on importers and allow the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) to rely on other regulatory bodies in countries having stringent regulatory authorities to vet medicines coming into the country.
“This is going to help importers by allowing them to apply for ‘listing’ which can be done within a month rather than waiting for six months just to be following documents because of stringent bureaucracy,” Hon Camara argued.
Several lawmakers appeared receptive to the idea but others raised concerns about the implications.
