Delese Mimi Darko has been appointed as the inaugural director-general of the African Medicines Agency. She is currently the chief executive of Ghana’s Food and Drug Authority.
This is a long-awaited appointment to the new specialized health agency of the African Union that is tasked with improving regulatory harmonization of medicines across the continent, including in pharmaceutical manufacturing. A disjointed continental regulatory regime has made it difficult for local manufacturers to access broader markets.
The AU hopes that AMA will help the continent increase the quantity of quality drugs reaching patients across the continent and reduce dependency on imports. Currently, African nations import over 70% of pharmaceutical products.
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About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
