Mombasa, Nairobi – The 5th African Union Smart Safety Surveillance (AU-3S) Steering Committee meeting concluded on September 13, reaffirming the commitment to enhance the safety of medical products across Africa. The two-day summit in Mombasa brought together Heads of African National Regulatory Agencies and key stakeholders to strengthen pharmacovigilance systems through collaboration, with a focus on effective monitoring, reporting, and response to adverse effects of health products.

Key partners in the initiative include international organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), World Health Organization (WHO) and AUDA-NEPAD. These organizations, alongside African regulatory authorities from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Egypt, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal, among others are working together to support Africa’s capacity to manage medical product safety risks.