Malta delegation visits FDA over mutual collaboration

Accra, June 28, GNA - A Maltese delegation has met with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) towards a collaboration between the two entities in areas of operation.

The delegation met the Strategic Management Members of the FDA at the Authority’s headquarters in Accra to strengthen the ties between the two countries following the five memoranda of understanding signed by Ghana and Malta to govern partnerships.

The Maltese delegation said since Brexit was around the corner, Ghana would need a new partner in the European Union (EU) and that Malta was ready to be Ghana’s gateway to the EU.

Mr Jean Claude Galea Mallia, Maltese High Commissioner to Ghana, said “We are committed to take this relationship to a higher level”.

Specific areas identified by the delegation for further consideration were support for Small-Medium Enterprises and start-ups in Ghana, postgraduate and doctorate scholarships to Pharmacists to study in Malta, registration of Ghana’s pharmaceutical product in Malta for easy access to the European and other markets, amongst others.

The delegation said the Maltese Government gives out five scholarships every year, which includes three Commonwealth related with the rest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically to Ghanaians.

This according to the delegation would be an area that could be beneficial to the Authority.

Welcoming the delegation, the CEO of the FDA, Mrs Delese A. A. Darko took them through how the Authority has evolved and some of the areas that they could collaborate.

“We started as a Pharmacy Board then to Food and Drugs Board and now Food and Drugs Authority," she said.

"As an Authority, our mandate has been widened; we regulate drugs, food, household chemicals, medical devices, cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products, blood and blood products,” Mrs Darko said.

Mrs Darko noted that capacity building would be an area that the FDA would take more delight in as the Authority keeps building capacity of staff regularly.

"We send staff for Masters programmes and other short courses so capacity building would be a great area of this collaboration,” she said.

Mrs Darko said the FDA was also ready to offer support to Malta since the Authority is an ISO 9001:2015 certified agency and that the Clinical Trails Department, Drug Evaluation and Registration and Safety Monitoring Departments of the Authority are designated by NEPAD as Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence (RCORE) for providing training and mentorship for African Regulators.

“You can also send people to us to train and mentor” she added.

Mrs. Darko further added that the FDA can also be of help in the training of Regulators in Malta involved in the regulation of medical devices since this is a new area in product regulation in Malta.

The Maltese delegation was made up of Michael Grech, the Director of Malta Enterprise, Cain Grech, the Coordinator of Business Development and Malta’s Advisor to the CEO of Malta Enterprise and Anton Buttigieg, CEO of Trade Malta.

The others are Ronald Micallef, the Ambassador to African Union at Malta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion, Annalise Attard, the Director of Scientific and Regulatory Operations of Malta’s Medicines Authority and Mark Carauna Arena, the Head of Ports Operations at Transport Malta.

GNA

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