Samoa and Vanuatu have joined five other Pacific countries taking part in an Australian program to test medicines for them at no cost.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne said the program, which aimed to assure the safety of medicines in the region, provided participating countries with the opportunity to have up to five medicines tested each year, at no cost, by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
“Three of the tests provided are for commonly used antibiotics and medicines to treat non-communicable diseases,” Senator Payne said.
“The remaining two tests are for responsive testing where a potential problem has been identified with a medicine by a participating country.”
She said the supply of quality medicines was a long standing issue facing many nations in the region.
Senator Payne said that while Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu were currently participating in the program, the aim was to make it available to all countries across the Pacific.
“The Pacific Medicines Testing Program, which commenced in August 2017, is part of Australia’s commitment to strengthen our engagement for a more resilient, safe, secure and prosperous Pacific,” Senator Payne said.
“This is one of the five priorities for Australia’s foreign policy set out in our 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.”
She said that assuring the supply of quality medicines helped to build strong communities and Australia was committed to the safety and security of the people of the Pacific Islands.
