Swissmedic receives grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bern, 18.04.2024 - On 27 March 2024, Swissmedic signed a new grant agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the terms of this agreement, both parties commit to supporting regulatory authorities in low and middle-income countries for a further three years, thereby improving access to healthcare in the targeted regions and countries. This commitment is aligned with Swiss health foreign policy and contributes to the implementation of its priority action area “Access to medicine”.
The agreement between Swissmedic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2014 by the Foundation, the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) with the aim of strengthening the regulatory systems in low and middle-income countries, thereby improving and accelerating access to healthcare and medicines. Its focus is on countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall aim of the project is to bring high-quality, life-saving medicines to patients as quickly as possible.
Swissmedic signed its first grant agreement with the Foundation in December 2015. Since then, Swissmedic, the three parties to the MoU and the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed a support programme consisting of three main areas of engagement:
- Harmonisation: Support for the implementation of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) programme at regional and continental level and towards the operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency (AMA)
- Access: Swissmedic procedure for scientific advice and Marketing Authorisation for Global Health Products (MAGHP)
- Capacity building: Swissmedic training opportunities for regulatory authorities in low and middle-income countries
The renewal of the grant agreement is of great importance to Swissmedic. The activities and support efforts that are already underway can therefore continue to be implemented as part of the operational activities for the next agreement period.
Address for enquiries
Swissmedic
Media Unit
+41 58 462 02 76
media@swissmedic.ch
Publisher
Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products
http://www.swissmedic.ch/?lang=2
