Foreign Ministry, COFEPRIS collaborate to enhance Mesoamerican regulatory capabilities

Foreign Ministry, COFEPRIS collaborate to enhance Mesoamerican regulatory capabilities

• Mesoamerican health authorities will analyze regulations on good laboratory practices, safety evaluation in clinical trials for medicines and vaccines, and pharmacovigilance in the regional context.
• The Mesoamerican Regulatory Board includes health authorities from 10 regional countries.

The Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), in coordination with the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), the Mesoamerican Integration and Development Project and the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Central American Health Ministers, has launched an internship program on "Good laboratory practices, and pharmacovigilance and technovigilance of the Mesoamerican Regulatory Board."

This cooperation project, the Mesoamerican Regulatory Board, aims to enhance technical cooperation in health regulation and improve regional public health in its 10 member countries: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.

Launched in 2022, the initiative promotes technical cooperation by sharing information and experiences on regulations and providing technical training for health regulatory officials. It focuses on five key areas: medicines authorization, medical devices authorization, health inspections, laboratory practices, and pharmacovigilance and technovigilance.

At the National Reference Laboratory in Mexico City, Mesoamerican health authorities will discuss an agenda for bolstering regulatory capacities in Laboratory and Pharmacovigilance and Technovigilance. Topics include regulations for good laboratory and documentation practices, reference substances and materials, safety evaluation in clinical trials, and regional pharmacovigilance and technovigilance.

Armida Zúñiga Estrada, COFEPRIS Commissioner of Analytical Control and Coverage Extension, welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance of this multilateral effort for harmonized regional regulation.

"This project strengthens regulatory processes and contributes to health risk prevention and protection, as well as public health in member countries through technical cooperation," she stated.

AMEXCID Executive Director Gloria Sandoval Salas highlighted international cooperation as an effective approach to regional regulatory challenges.

"Through the Mesoamerica Project, member countries lead cooperation actions aligned with their strengths, achieving significant results in areas such as transportation, trade, energy, telecommunications, environment, risk management, and health. We are applying lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed gaps in health regulation and prompted us to accelerate cooperation and strengthen our capabilities," she explained.

The opening ceremony was attended by Nemer Alexander Naime Sánchez-Henkel, COFEPRIS Director of International Affairs; Tony Rojas Gil, AMEXCID Director General of Projects Abroad; and Jean-Marc Gabastou, Regional Health Emergency Advisor for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).