The FDA team at the training facility
The European Union and GIZ have successfully organised a three-week customised and intensive hands-on vaccine Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) training programme for Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) inspectors.
This information was shared in a statement released by the FDA
According to the statement, the programme was part of technical support being provided by the two organizations to the FDA and a team of inspectors were selected from directorates responsible for Inspections, Quality Control, Marketing Authorization, and Industrial Support within the organization.
It stated that the objective of the training was to equip the inspectors with the requisite technical knowledge required for regulatory oversight of vaccines in general and specifically for locally manufactured vaccines to meet international standards of safety, quality, and efficacy.
The three-week training programme was designed and delivered by the Biotech Training Facility in Leiden Bioscience Park, Netherlands.
The statetment indicated that selected trainees had the opportunity to interact and learn from SMEs on utilities such as Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems as well as Bulk Water purification Systems for vaccine manufacturing and other related areas such as commissioning, qualification, and maintenance of these critical utilities.
It added that the programme aimed at ensuring more officers were well trained and prepared to conduct thorough GMP inspections when facilities are established for local production of vaccines as well as inspection of foreign vaccine manufacturing facilities.
“This comprehensive training programme will in the long term enhance the capacity of officers of the Authority in providing the needed regulatory oversight to support the vision of Ghana becoming a vaccine manufacturing hub in Africa,” the statement shared.
The statement highlighted that the European Union and GIZ provided technical support to the FDA in the implementation of comprehensive, institutional, and technical strengthening programme intended to deliver various capacity-building activities in the areas of marketing authorization, inspection of good manufacturing practice, and testing and lot release of vaccines in readiness for effective regulation of vaccine manufacturing within the country.
By Abigail Atinuke Seyram Adeyemi