PAHO, Rwanda helping Guyana overhaul its pharmaceutical regulatory system

Last Updated on Wednesday, 4 June 2025, 19:33 by Writer

Guyana is moving ahead with revamping its pharmaceutical regulatory system with assistance from Rwanda, as part of preparations to possibly become a leading drug manufacturer and supplier to Caribbean and European Union (EU) markets.

“We have done an assessment of our regulatory agency and our laws, when we looked at them – they date back to 1974 which is pretty old and we have worked with our partners, including the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and we have a draft new law for the pharmaceutical industry,” Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said.

He was Monday addressing the European Union’s Global Gateway 10-member Investment Mission on collaboration in the health and pharmaceutical sectors. In addition to the law, he said, there would be seven annexes on matters such as pharmacovigilance to bring Guyana up to the level of global best practice.

Dr Anthony said a review of the operations of the Food and Drug Administration has revealed a number of “gaps” including the need for a “good laboratory”. In that regard, he said government has invested US$5 million in a food and drug lab located at the University of Guyana which would be finished in another year. “Once that is completed, then we would have a good home where we can do all the regulatory testing and it would meet the best practices internationally,” he said.

The Health Minister said Rwanda has shared the human resource structure of its regulatory authority. He said another Rwandan expert was due to be in Guyana for a couple of months to guide local decision-makers about the skills that are necessary for the local regulatory authority. “Once that person comes and works with us, we are committed to hiring the relevant experience to make sure that our regulatory authority functions as it should,” he said.

With support from the EU and Rwanda, Barbados and Guyana are continuing preparatory work to begin the manufacture of drugs, including vaccines. “During COVID, I think we all over the world realised that it became super difficult to buy medicine, to buy anything that is of relevance in the health sector and that you need, as a region, to be able to rely on your own production facilities,” he said, noting that the EU had supported Rwanda to do so.

Lithuania, Guyana and Barbados have already signed a joint declaration to strengthen the systems in the two Caribbean countries. The idea has already been discussed by health ministers at the level of the Caribbean Community’s Council for Human and Social Development.

Dr Anthony said Guyana already has “some experience” through the decades-old New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation that had also produced HIV anti-retroviral vaccines.

The EU Ambassador wooed the European pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of the duty free, quota free exports from Guyana under EU-Caribbean Economic Partnership Agreement.

The Health Minister praised Rwanda for improving its regulatory authority to “almost the highest level” for pharmaceuticals being manufactured there. As a result of that, he said Rwanda had attracted a number of European companies to establish a manufacturing base there. “While their physical plant might be in Rwanda, it is also distributing these meds, devices and other things that they are making there to the rest of Africa. That’s a huge market that they would have access to,” he said.