Rwanda becomes the first country to sign the African Medicine Agency (AMA) Treaty

The Republic of Rwanda became the first African Union Member State to sign the Treaty for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) on 12 June 2019. The AMA Treaty was adopted on 11 February 2019 by the African Union Assembly during their 32^nd Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The African Medicines Agency (AMA) will serve as the continental body that will provide regulatory leadership, to ensure that there are harmonized and strengthened regulatory systems, which govern the regulation of medicines and medical products on the African continent. Further it will regulate access to safe, effective, good quality and affordable essential medicines and health technologies. AMA will do this through coordination of on-going regulatory systems, strengthening and harmonizing efforts of the African Union Commission (AUC), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Health Organizations (RHOs) and Member States.

The Treaty will enter into force once ratified / acceded to by fifteen African Union Member States.

Member States are able to sign the Treaty at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa as well as at the upcoming 35^th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 12^th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly in July 2019, in Niamey, Niger.

Article published on the Africa Union’s website on 12 June 2019 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia).