By Ramatoulie Jawo
Hon. Amadou Camara, the Member of Parliament for Nianija Constituency, introduced a Private Member Bill called the Medicines and Related Products Act (Amendment) Bill 2023 in Parliament. The bill was read for the first time, and Hon. Camara presented a copy of it to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
The bill seeks to address a clear gap in the Medicines and Related Products Act 2014 regarding the registration of medical products.
“Unfortunately, by the virtue of the provisions contained in the Act and regulations, medicines emanating from Europe, America, and the United Kingdom cannot be registered in the Gambia in accordance with the Medical Control Agency (MCA) guidelines. As registration of medical and pharmaceutical products involves intricacies that prove exaggeratedly bureaucratic, so much so that stringent compliance may undermine quality control and create room for substandard and contaminant products, as well as a shortage of essential medical products in the country,” Hon. Camara indicated in his Private Members Bill.
He further stated in the bill that stakeholders undergo insufferable measures to register products from certain countries due to the fact that the manufacturers in those countries prioritize registration in high-population nations to ensure early returns on investment.
“For instance, the United Kingdom harbours a population of over 67 million people, while our regional counterparts in Nigeria, have over 223 million; in Ghana, it is over 34 million; in Senegal 17.5 million; in Sierra Leone, it is above 8.7 million; and in Liberia, 5.4 million. The Gambia’s population is slightly below 3 million. It is clear on face value that the revenue for any manufacturers for imports to a small economy such as The Gambia for such products is objectionable,” he disclosed in the bill.