Damascus, July 16 (SANA)Syria’s Ministry of Healthon Thursday launched a roadmap to modernize the country’spharmaceutical regulatory system, working with theWorld Health Organization(WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and international partners as part of efforts to strengthen medicine quality, safety and oversight.

The workshop, held in Damascus and chaired by Deputy Health Minister forPharmaceutical AffairsHani Baghdadi, focused on developing a stronger regulatory framework and aligning Syria’s pharmaceutical governance with international standards.

According to the ministry, the initiative forms part of preparations to establish aSyrian Medicines Authority, which is expected to strengthen regulatory oversight, improve the quality, safety and effectiveness of medicines, reinforce pharmaceutical security and support the competitiveness of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

Edward Vrieke, Executive Director of QUAMED, a Belgian non-profit organization specializing in pharmaceutical quality assurance and regulatory system strengthening, presented the findings of an assessment conducted using the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT), an internationally recognized framework for evaluating national medicines regulatory systems.

Vrieke said the assessment, carried out jointly with the Health Ministry over recent months, had produced a roadmap and implementation plan aimed at enabling Syria to achieve WHO Maturity Level 3, a benchmark for well-functioning medicines regulatory authorities. He expressed confidence that the objective could be achieved through continued implementation of the reform program.