Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) head Ali El-Ghamrawy met with the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Hanan Balkhy to strengthen cooperation in public health and pharmaceutical regulation, a report said on Thursday. The meeting covered current and future areas of collaboration, including initiatives to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), enhance pharmaceutical quality and regulatory oversight, and build technical capacity at EDA. The discussions also highlighted Egypt's strong regulatory and industrial pharmaceutical infrastructure—considered among the most advanced in the region. El-Ghamrawy reaffirmed the depth of strategic ties between the EDA and WHO, praising the organisation's vital role in supporting regulatory systems in Egypt and across the region, the report added. He praised the WHO Egypt office for its support and viewed the visit as a crucial step in establishing lasting partnerships to enhance health and pharmaceutical security in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Balkhy commended Egypt's achievement as the first African country to reach WHO maturity level 3 (ML3) in regulating both medicines and vaccines as a producing country, according to the statement. She said the WHO looks forward to continued collaboration toward achieving maturity level 4 and EDA's eventual inclusion on the WHO-Listed Authorities (WLA) register. She also praised Egypt's efforts in curbing the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The parties reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing coordination and expanding cooperation to support sustainable health development and improve the quality of pharmaceutical and healthcare services at both national and regional levels. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
