Patience Makwele
The Ministry of Health and Social Services says Namibia is strengthening its medicine safety systems as African countries push for closer regulatory cooperation through the African Medicines Agency (AMA).
The move comes as concerns grow across the continent over counterfeit medicines, weak reporting systems for medicine side effects and pressure on governments to improve patient safety.
Speaking at the International Society of Pharmacovigilance Africa Chapter annual meeting in Windhoek on Tuesday, the ministry’s executive director Penda Ithindi said fragmented medicine regulation across Africa continues to place patients at risk.
“Pharmacovigilance is no longer simply a technical or complementary function, it is central to resilient and responsive health systems and a cornerstone of public trust,” he said.
The meeting brought together regulators, researchers, healthcare workers and policymakers from more than 20 African countries to discuss medicine safety, patient protection and regulatory cooperation.
Ithindi said Namibia has already taken steps to support the African Medicines Agency, including paying its annual membership contribution.
“The AMA represents one of the most consequential steps Africa has taken toward health sovereignty,” he said.
According to Ithindi, stronger cooperation between African regulators would help countries respond faster to harmful medicines, improve monitoring of side effects and reduce dependence on foreign regulatory systems.
Ithindi said the government is working to strengthen medicine side-effect reporting systems, healthcare worker training, digital monitoring tools and public awareness campaigns as part of broader patient safety reforms.
He urged delegates attending the conference to focus on practical reforms that improve patient protection across Africa.
“Every policy we develop, every system we strengthen, and every partnership we build must ultimately serve one purpose: protecting the lives and wellbeing of our people,” Ithindi said.
The World Health Organization estimates that one in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries is either substandard or fake, with African countries being among the hardest hit.
Health experts say weak monitoring systems, underreporting of medicine side effects and limited regulatory capacity continue to affect patient safety across the continent.
Health expert Nalucha Buchane said medicine safety failures directly affect ordinary people.
“When medicines fail people, the consequences are personal. It is the patient whose condition worsens, the parent watching a child not respond to treatment or families forced to spend more money because the first medication did not work,” she said.
Buchane said many African countries have relied heavily on foreign regulators, creating delays in responding to local health challenges.
“What Africa is now trying to build is a system that understands African realities and can respond faster to problems affecting African patients,” she said.
She added that stronger medicine monitoring systems are also important for rebuilding public trust in healthcare systems after concerns linked to medicine safety and vaccine monitoring during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People want assurance that the medicines they are taking are safe, properly tested and continuously monitored. Trust in the health system depends on that,” Buchane said.
Namibia’s Therapeutics Information and Pharmacovigilance Centre, operating under the Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council, is responsible for monitoring medicine side effects and promoting safe medicine use in the country.
