Drawing lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, Senegal, like some other African countries, aims to ensure its pharmaceutical sovereignty. However, an industry in this sector requires a strong regulatory authority. To achieve this, qualified personnel are essential. Reg-pharma, a digital portal for continuing education in pharmaceutical regulation, launched this Thursday in Dakar by Cheikh Anta Diop University, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University of Côte d'Ivoire, and the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP) in France, addresses this need.

“We want a local industry, to produce ourselves, to be independent. That’s good, but who is competent to control what is produced? We must not let medicine become a poison. So, we need to train agents so that they can control what is produced locally,” summarizes Professor Mahama Ouattara, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences at UPHB.

The overall objective is therefore to strengthen the skills of pharmaceutical regulatory authorities in the WAEMU and CEMAC.

Dr. Mor Diagne, technical advisor to the Minister of Health, who presided over the launch ceremony, welcomed this advancement in training opportunities, especially for professionals. "There are master's programs in pharmaceutical regulation offered at UCAD. But today, this platform will allow for continuing professional development," he stated.

Therefore, as Jean-Philippe Naboulet, a teacher-researcher at EHESP, explained, these are short, very practical training courses designed to strengthen a particular skill.

The training courses will cover areas such as inspection, regulation, harmonization of texts, and the implementation of a quality management system. "How do you write procedures? How do you study a marketing authorization dossier? How do you ensure the causal link between an adverse drug effect? How do you verify the causality between the adverse effect reported by a patient or a healthcare professional and the reality?" lists Mr. Naboulet.

In short, these are methods and techniques that are not invented and are not necessarily learned in a student's course of study.

For now, the initiative aims to equip African regulatory agencies with qualified personnel, but the training could be extended to professionals working in the pharmaceutical industry, at distributors or in purchasing centers.

Indeed, as Professor Mahama Ouattara from Côte d'Ivoire points out, regulators and industry stakeholders don't always speak the same language, which hinders collaboration. Expanding this training program will therefore allow all those involved in the pharmaceutical ecosystem to share a common understanding of the situation, thus fostering dialogue for the benefit of the population.

Because, ultimately, training will serve not only to have a skilled workforce, but also to harmonize practices, in other words to close the loopholes that benefit manufacturers.

In this way, Africa will be able to combat counterfeit, substandard, or ineffective medicines. In short, all pharmaceutical products that are unsuitable for the needs and health of the population.