Representatives from Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Angola met via the Zoom platform on 18 December to take stock of the situation in each country, based on the work carried out by the Centre for Biomedical Law (CDB) at the University of Coimbra to map legislation in the field of clinical research and define the Medicines Regulatory Authorities and Ethics Commissions.
The meeting was attended by André Dias Pereira, Carla Barbosa and Daniela Pereira, from the CDB, and Bernardett Santos (São Tomé and Príncipe), João Semedo (Cape Verde), Miguel Pereira (Guinea Bissau), Mouhammed Ahmed (Guinea Bissau) and Walter Van-Trier (Angola), representing the partner countries.
The meeting also discussed the project's next steps and gathered suggestions from the participants. The publication of scientific articles on the work carried out was among the topics discussed, and is considered one of the goals of this Work Package.
Although the meeting took place online, two of the partners were at the headquarters of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Association in Lisbon, accompanied by the CT Luso project manager, Catarina Sobrinho. Mouhammed Ahmed, from Guinea-Bissau's National Committee for Ethics in Health Research, and Bernardett Santos, a lawyer from São Tomé and Príncipe's Ministry of Health, took the opportunity to exchange ideas with the Portuguese team.
The initiative reinforces the collective effort to promote a solid ethical and regulatory framework for clinical research in the countries involved.
