Liberia — The Liberia Medications and Health Supplements Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) recently received several pieces of critical test equipment from the U.s. Agency For international Development (USAID) for its quality control laboratory, ensuring that all medicines and health supplements entering Liberia meet stringent quality standards.
On May 13, Liberian George W. Manneh Weah attended a handover ceremony in which USAID donated over $300,000 in technology, parts, and standards through its Improving the Performance of Medicines Plus (PQM+) program.
Liberia’s ability to tackle malaria, maternal health issues, and family planning requirements is harmed by substandard and fraudulent medicines. The LMHRA’s lab can determine the quality of medications and health goods on the Liberian trade using cutting-edge testing technology.
At the handover ceremony, Jessica Healey, Director of USAID’s Office of Medical, stated that the technology will allow Liberia to conduct its own quality checks on medications and other health items, rather than sending samples to be tested in other nations. Compendial testing, which ensures that medications satisfy established pharmaceutical standards, will be more efficient and cost-effective in the LMHRA’s own laboratory.
Healey stated, “Conducting compendium tests in Liberia now will have multiple benefits.” “It will be less expensive and quicker…. It means that the lab will be able to collect cash from sample testing fees, which will help it become more sustainable.”
The LMHRA lab will be able to conduct result in improving and other quality audits thanks to increased testing capacity, making it suitable for certification by the International Standards organization (ISO).
President Weah stated that health care for Liberians is a critical component of the govt’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Success and Development (PAPD), emphasizing the importance of having a well-functioning quality control lab. “Having a system in place to inspect the quality of pharmaceutical agents on the Liberian marketplace is critical,” he said. “My administration’s commitment to a prosperous country remains steadfast.”
Keturah Smith-Chineh, the LMHRA’s Managing Director, praised USAID for the grant and the US government’s support for the LMHRA since its inception. She explained that the lab is the bedrock and pillar of all signaling pathways, and that USAID and PQM+ have provided continual support in the form of drugs, reagent, technology, education, and capacity building.
The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) implements USAID’s PQM+ program, which provides technical help in more than 20 countries to ensure the quality of medications and health products. PQM+ works in Liberia to improve the capacity of the LMHRA to carry out regulating tasks and assure the standards of healthcare products in the country.
HPLC equipment, machines to perform a chemical procedure called Quadratic infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), diverse laboratory equipment, reference standards to help the assessment of tested medicines, and other scientific equipment and consumables were among the items donated on May 13.