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The Poisons and Drugs Board has signed a commitment agreement with the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) on Friday, June 21, 2024.

The board said that this is a significant move that will bolster collaboration between the two agencies. 

“In a significant move to bolster collaborations, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) of Kenya and the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) have signed a Statement of Commitment. Mark Abdoo, the Associate Director for Global Policy and Strategy at the US FDA, and Ahmed Mohamed, PPB’s Director of Health Products and Technologies, formalized the agreement on Thursday.

“This event follows a confidentiality agreement signed between PPB and the US FDA in March 2024, aimed at fostering new opportunities for cooperative engagement in the pharmaceutical sector,” a statement by the Health Ministry on X on Friday, June 21, 2024, said.

The delegation from the FDA was received at the Ministry of Health headquarters by Patrick Amoth, the Director General, who represented Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha. 

According to the ministry, Amoth emphasized the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda, highlighting health as a key pillar of universal health coverage.

More Kenya-US ties

Meanwhile, the PPB-FDA agreement comes a moment after President William Ruto confirmed another Kenya-US possible association on trade.

Ruto said that Africa is seeking increased trade and market access to the United States and urged that the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was introduced 25 years ago and is set to expire next February, be extended.

The Head of State also said Kenya and the US are negotiating a Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership, which he believes will take the relationship between the two countries to the next level.