DIA: Driving Insights to Action

Latin America's COVID-19 Regulatory Response

Latin America, a region of more than 640 million people, is experiencing significant outbreaks of COVID-19 since its first confirmed case on February 25, 2020. Health regulatory authorities are required to adapt to new challenges as the regions face medical supply shortages and halted clinical trials. “In our region, governments will learn even more the value of an independent regulatory authority that does regulation based on science and scientific evidence,” says Cammilla Horta Gomes, Latin America Regulatory Policy Lead at Roche, Brazil. She discusses the outbreak’s impact on the region’s regulatory landscape and the solutions that have been implemented to improve regulatory efficiencies in the face of the outbreak.

Partnerships Essential to SAHPRA Pandemic Response

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is responsible for regulating health products intended for human and animal use, the conduct of clinical trials, and other duties in South Africa. “Around the COVID-19 pandemic, as regulators, we are having to work very closely with each other because in some jurisdictions clinical trials are ongoing, and we need to access that data. In some jurisdictions, products have been registered and we need to access that data,” explains SAHPRA CEO Dr. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela. “It's been humbling to be part of the broader health sector where we contribute to not only saving the lives of South Africans but contribute to the knowledge base across the world and to averting this pandemic.”