The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), has taken a decisive step toward eliminating substandard, and falsified medicines from the market.
The development followed the signing of a landmark Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) with its international partner, Quality Management Solutions (QMS).
The Agreement, according to a release, was signed on Friday, November 21, 2025, at LMHRA’s headquarters in Mamba Point.
It set in motion a US$9 million investment to establish an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art Quality Control Laboratory.
The initiative aims to secure ISO/IEC-17025:2017 Certification, and achieve World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level-3 benchmarks; a standard currently unmet by the country existing regulatory framework.
At the inception meeting, LMHRA Managing Director, Dr. Luke Bawo, described the agreement as a “big leap” for the health sector.
Bawo offered a stark assessment of the current reality.
He said despite significant advancements in healthcare infrastructure, and personnel training over the last decade, the inability to verify the quality of medicines has left the system at a “breaking point.”
“We cannot authenticate the quality of commodities in circulation. Currently, we can only conduct visual and physical testing. We cannot determine impurities in products or authenticate if a commodity is at a particular strength.”
He said the current laboratory suffers from unstable electricity, inadequate equipment, insufficient reagents, and a lack of accreditation, forcing the country to rely on costly third-party testing abroad.
“The quality of any health system is directly dependent on the quality of commodities in circulation. This partnership marks a new day. We are resolved that within two years; we will attain the necessary global qualifications.”
Under the PPP model, QMS will operate as a profit-oriented entity to recoup its investment, with a revenue-sharing split of 65 percent to QMS and 35 percent to the government though LMHRA.
Shoaib Mirza, General Manager of QMS, outlined the technical scope of the project.
Mirza assured that QMS will renovate the existing structure, and equip the lab to test a wide range of products, including pharmaceuticals and medical consumables; food and animal feeds, petroleum products and sanitization chemicals.
“We will implement a QMS that ensures the lab is legally identifiable, impartial, and consistent,” Mirza said.
He meanwhile, pledged to generate test reports within 15 to 30 days, and ensure that all personnel are rigorously trained to handle sophisticated instrumentation.
“It is a joy to work with the LMHRA in efforts to clean and clear the country of harmful medicines.”
Dr. Bawo said the path to the signing was deliberate, and transparent, spanning over a year and three months.
The process involved scrutiny and approval from the Executive, the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC), the Concession Committee at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the National Investment Commission (NIC), and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
“We insisted on doing everything the right way. We have received the official approval to modernize this laboratory, and despite distractions, we are headed in the right direction.”
While the signing ceremony was kept low-key, Dr. Bawo announced that a grand commissioning of the facility is expected in four months, once the modernization is complete.
LMHRA Deputy Managing Director, Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman, welcomed the partnership as a major milestone for consumer protection.
Dr. Freeman added: “Together, we have the opportunity to build a facility that will serve as a model of excellence in quality assurance,”
She urged the technical teams to engage in open dialogue and shared learning.
The new laboratory will introduce measures such as QR-coding for imported health products, allowing the LMHRA to aggressively clean up the market of expired, falsified, and dangerous medicines.