The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) have signed a first technical cooperation agreement aimed at improving regulatory harmonisation and convergence in the Region of the Americas.

The primary goal of the partnership is to advance the work of the Pan American Network for Drug Regulatory Harmonisation (PANDRH). Through this agreement, CEPI will support PAHO’s efforts as the technical secretariat for PANDRH to support pandemic preparedness in countries.

The new agreement follows recommendations made during the recent XI PANDRH Conference, which also marked the network’s 25th anniversary. The Conference called for a new strategic plan to adapt to emerging regional challenges and to improve, among others, regulatory preparedness for health emergencies.

“This agreement supports PAHO's work to strengthen health security in the Americas. Functional regulatory systems are particularly crucial to achieving equitable access to quality-assured and safe medical products during pandemics and other public health emergencies, as well as to promote regional innovation and production,” said PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa (right in the image).

"Harmonisation of regulatory processes is crucial as it fosters a common understanding among regional regulators, maximises limited regulatory resources, helps establish standards that are tailored to specific regional needs and, ultimately, can help accelerate the process of getting safe and effective diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, to those who need them most”, said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI (left in the image).