On Monday the Ministry of Health and Social Services launched the second edition of the National Medicines Policy (NMP), as well as its five-year strategic implementation plan and monitoring and evaluation manual.
The ministry released the first edition of the policy in 1998.
Speaking at the launch here, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula stated that the second NMP and strategic implementation plan were approved by Cabinet on 12 July 2022.
He said the policy document, which guides all strategic and operational level activities for the pharmaceutical sector, has 11 strategic objectives, each with a number of recommended strategies to facilitate policy implementation.
“These strategic objectives are organised to cover the following Pillars: Legislation, Regulation and Quality Assurance; Local Manufacture of Medicines; Medicine Selection; Medicine Supply; Rational Use of Medicines; New, Emerging, And Re-Emerging Diseases And Medicines; Financing and Pricing of Medicines; Global Trade in Pharmaceuticals; Human Capacity Development; Research and Development; and Technical Cooperation and Assistance,” he explained.
Shangula said the launch of the NMP means that the ministry now has a comprehensive policy framework that guides services in all aspects of Namibia’s pharmaceutical sector, including training and research; manufacturing; regulation and quality assurance; and pharmaceutical supply, which includes quantification, procurement, inventory management and stock control, as well as rational use of medicines and related substances.
“These policy documents will be made available to all relevant directorates, offices within the ministry, and all of our stakeholders in Namibia to ensure that our initiatives and activities are aligned with the NMP strategic direction. To ensure the smooth implementation of this policy, all relevant legal instruments, standard operating protocols, and technical guidelines will be developed or revised,” he said.
The minister urged all pharmaceutical stakeholders to embark on strategies by distributing the documents to all healthcare workers, stakeholders, and all relevant partners, ensuring that all relevant parties have a good understanding of the objectives and strategies of these documents, and ensuring that all objectives and strategies as indicated in the policy, as well as the strategic framework, are implemented.
“Having these strategic documents available to you is one thing. Another difficult task is ensuring that they are used to identify your short-, medium-, and long-term activities,” he concluded.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
