The government council approved today, Thursday, the draft decree-law No. 2.24.728 amending Law No. 17.04, which serves as the Drug and Pharmacy Code. This bill was presented by Khalid Ait Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection.
During a press conference following the council’s weekly meeting, Mustapha Baitas, Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament and the Government Spokesperson, explained that this project responds to challenges revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The global health crisis has highlighted the urgent need to ensure the sustainability and availability of medicines, particularly vaccines, as essential resources for addressing health crises and enhancing healthcare.
Baitas emphasized that the bill aims to achieve Morocco’s vaccine sovereignty by establishing a national industry that meets both domestic and continental demand. It also ensures the supervision of this industry, guaranteeing the quality of vaccines, whether produced locally or imported, and verifying that they comply with international standards.
Due to the urgency of creating an effective and comprehensive legal framework, Baitas added that a draft decree-law was prepared to establish a national system for the official certification of vaccine and serum batches for human use, allowing for packaging and marketing.
This system seeks to establish a process for reviewing production data and the quality control test results for each batch of vaccines or serums approved for market distribution, the minister noted.
