The Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) has hailed the collaboration with the Uganda National Drug Authority (NDA) on the implementation of a comprehensive digital transformation programme aimed at strengthening regulatory efficiency, transparency, accountability, and service delivery through the automation of core regulatory functions and processes.

PMRA Director General Charles Chimenya made the remarks on Monday in Kampala, Uganda at the start of a five-day benchmarking visit to the NDA on the implementation of Regulatory Information Management System (RIMS).

The PMRA delegation is undertaking a shadowing visit to gain practical knowledge from the NDA’s successful experience with its integrated RIMS (iRIMS). With financial support from the World Bank, PMRA is in the process of implementing its own RIMS to integrate and automate all core regulatory functions as part of a broader digital transformation agenda. 

“We were looking for a peer Regulatory Authority that is not only strong in terms of WHO Maturity Level status but also operates a fully functional RIMS with modern, end-to-end functionalities. We believe there is no better place to learn from than the NDA, an institution that has successfully navigated this complex journey,” said Chimenya.

He thanked the hosts for their warm welcome and commended their openness to sharing best practices. He added that the NDA’s hands‑on experience to RIMS implementation would serve as a critical reference point for PMRA’s ongoing digital transformation journey.

On his part, NDA Secretary to the Authority Dr. David Nahamya assured the PMRA delegation of Uganda’s full support throughout the RIMS implementation process. 

“We are here to share with you what we have,” said Nahamya, reaffirming the spirit of collaboration between the two regulatory bodies.

The implementation of RIMS will support the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s digital agenda through the Malawi National Health Product Register (MNHPR) and the National Product Catalogue (NPC) as core platform components. RIMS will push validated product data to the MNHPR, which will serve as the central record of product registrations and lifecycle events. The NPC will then consume this validated data from the MNHPR and enrich it with supply chain attributes. This integrated flow will establish a single reference point, improve data quality, enable stakeholder information sharing, and support evidence-based regulatory oversight.