Liberia Medicines & Health Products Regulatory Authority

07/01/2026

LMHRA, Plan International, Validates Key Regulatory Documents To Strengthen Liberia’s Regulatory Framework

Liberia’s Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), in partnership with Plan International, has successfully completed a six-day Quality Management System (QMS) Document Validation Workshop aimed at strengthening Liberia’s regulatory framework for medicines and health products.
The intensive workshop, held at the Golden Key Hotel in Paynesville city from December 19-30, 2025, focused on the review and validation of key regulatory and policy documents to ensure they meet established quality management, regulatory, and operational standards before final approval and implementation.
The workshop brought together LMHRA staff, technical experts, and key stakeholders to address critical gaps within the country’s regulatory system and promote compliance with international best practices. Organizers emphasized that the validation process was essential to ensure the documents are legally sound, practical, and effective for implementation across Liberia’s health sector.
Over the six days, participants reviewed and validated several cornerstone documents, including the Guidelines on Herbal Medicines, Inspection Regulations, Human Resources Policy Manual, Rapid Alert Guidelines, Medical Device Guidelines, and Medical Device Regulations. Each document was assessed for clarity, consistency, usability, and alignment with applicable legal, regulatory, and QMS requirements to support effective regulatory enforcement.
Beyond technical compliance, the workshop underscored the importance of incorporating input and feedback from LMHRA staff and stakeholders. This collaborative approach enhanced the quality and relevance of the documents, identified gaps and inconsistencies, and informed targeted revisions. By engaging stakeholders directly, LMHRA sought to build consensus and foster ownership of the final validated documents, paving the way for smooth implementation.

Facilitators also highlighted the need for readiness to advance the validated documents toward final approval. The workshop, they noted, was not only about validation but also about preparing the regulatory framework for effective enforcement once officially adopted.
Speaking at the close of the workshop, Dr. Thomas B. L. Kokulo, Manager of the Quality Management Systems at LMHRA, disclosed that the exercise focused on developing, reviewing, and validating five major regulatory documents and guidelines critical to the full implementation of pharmaceutical regulatory standards, including ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17025:2017.
According to him, the validation process is both timely and critical as LMHRA works toward the renewal of its ISO certifications and advances efforts to achieve World Health Organization (WHO) Global Benchmarking, to attain WHO Maturity Level 3.
On behalf of LMHRA management, Dr. Kokulo expressed profound appreciation to Plan International for its continued collaboration and support, noting that the partnership has been instrumental in strengthening Liberia’s regulatory systems, promoting quality assurance, and ensuring compliance with international standards.
“Plan International has been a steadfast partner in our efforts to build a robust regulatory environment. This workshop is another milestone in our shared commitment to safeguarding public health and ensuring that medicines and health products available in Liberia meet the highest standards of safety and quality,” he said.
The six-day workshop underscores Liberia’s commitment to advancing public health through strong and credible regulatory systems and highlights the importance of collaboration between national authorities and international partners in achieving sustainable health outcomes.
Meanwhile, the validated documents are expected to play a pivotal role in guiding regulatory activities nationwide, including inspections, rapid alerts, and the regulation of herbal medicines and medical devices. With stakeholder consensus secured, LMHRA is now positioned to proceed with final approvals and implementation—marking a significant step forward in strengthening the country’s health regulatory framework.
LMHRA is Liberia’s national regulatory body responsible for safeguarding public health by ensuring that medicines, vaccines, medical devices, cosmetics, herbal medicines, and other health products circulating in the country are safe, effective, and of assured quality.
Established by an Act of the Liberian Legislature, LMHRA operates under the oversight of the Government of Liberia and serves as the central authority for regulating pharmaceuticals and health products across the entire value chain—from importation and manufacturing to distribution, storage, and use.
At its core, LMHRA exists to protect lives. It does this by developing and enforcing regulations, issuing licenses and registrations, conducting inspections of pharmaceutical premises, monitoring product quality, and responding to safety alerts and substandard or falsified medical products. The Authority also oversees clinical trial regulation and post-market surveillance to ensure ongoing compliance with national and international standards.
LMHRA aligns its operations with globally recognized best practices, including the World Health Organization (WHO) regulatory framework and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. The Authority is actively pursuing WHO Global Benchmarking to attain WHO Maturity Level 3, a benchmark that signifies a stable, well-functioning, and internationally credible regulatory system. It also maintains and renews ISO certifications such as ISO 9001 for quality management systems and ISO 17025 for laboratory competence.
Beyond regulation, LMHRA plays a strategic role in strengthening Liberia’s health system. It collaborates closely with the Ministry of Health, international partners, donors, and development organizations to improve access to quality-assured medicines and health products while preventing the circulation of unsafe or counterfeit items. Through public awareness, stakeholder engagement, and capacity-building initiatives, the Authority promotes compliance and accountability within the pharmaceutical sector. LMHRA stands as a critical gatekeeper. Its work underpins trust in Liberia’s health supply chain and reinforces the country’s broader commitment to public health, patient safety, and regulatory excellence.

29/12/2025

20/12/2025

Season’s Greetings from the Board of Directors, Management, and Staff, to our valued Stakeholders, and the general public!

As the year draws to a close, the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) extends its warmest wishes to everyone contributing to the health and safety of our nation. This festive season is a time for reflection on our collective achievements in ensuring that safe, effective, and quality medicines reach every Liberian.

During this period of celebration, your health remains our top priority. We encourage all citizens to remain vigilant:
* Buy from Licensed Outlets: Only purchase medicines from pharmacies and medicine stores registered and licensed by the LMHRA.
* Check for Expiry Dates: Always verify the expiration date and packaging integrity before purchasing or consuming any health product.
* Report Suspicious Products: If you encounter any suspected counterfeit or substandard medicines, please report them to the LMHRA office.

To our partners in the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare providers, and international collaborators: Thank you. Your compliance with regulatory standards have been vital in safeguarding the public health of Liberia. We look forward to even stronger collaboration in 2026.

While we celebrate, let us remember that "Quality Medicine is a Right, Not a Privilege." Stay safe, stay healthy, and let us work together toward a healthier Liberia in the coming year.
Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!

Signed
The Management
Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA)

30/11/2025

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management, and Staff of the Liberia Medicines & Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), Managing Director Hon. Dr. Luke L. Bawo, Deputy Managing Director Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman, and the Senior Management Team extend warm and profound birthday greetings to Your Excellency as you mark this milestone.

At eighty-one, you stand as a living embodiment of our nation’s triumphs and trials — a reminder that leadership, at its best, is patient, steady, and anchored in service. Your journey has been long, yes, but it has also been purposeful, charting a path that inspires us to keep our operational frameworks tight, our strategic priorities aligned, and our national ambitions evergreen.

We pray that the Almighty continues to grant you health, clarity of vision, and the enduring wisdom required to steer Liberia through this next chapter of renewal and accountability. As an institution entrusted with safeguarding the quality of medicines and health products across the country, we remain committed to delivering results that align with your administration’s mandate for integrity, efficiency, and public trust.

May your day be filled with peace, strength, and the quiet satisfaction of a mission still unfolding. The work continues — and we stand ready to support the national agenda with unwavering commitment.

Happy Birthday, Your Excellency.
May the years ahead be even more impactful than the ones behind.

27/11/2025

Appearance of the Managing Directorñ of LMHRA, Dr. Luke L. Bawo, at the Ministry of Information (MoI) Regular Press Briefing
Date & Time: Thursday, November 27, 2025, at 12:00 PM

25/11/2025

The Appearance of the Managing Director of the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), Dr. Luke L. Bawo, at the Ministry of Information and Cultural Affairs (MICA) Regular Press Briefing

Date & Time: Thursday, November 27, 2025, at 12:00 PM
Location: Ministry of Information and Cultural Affairs (MICA), Capitol Hill, Monrovia

Key Discussion Point:
 Modernization of LMHRA State-of-the-Art Ultra-Quality Control Lab
 Construction of the Health Waste Disposal Facility in Margibi County.
 Track and Trace all medicines and health products entering Liberia

24/11/2025

‘Big Leap for Liberia’s Health Sector’
-As LMHRA, QMS Signs US$9M Deal to Modernize Quality Control Lab

(Monday, November 24, 2025-Monrovia)–The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has taken a decisive step toward eliminating substandard and falsified medicines from the Liberian market, with the signing of a landmark Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) with its international partner, Quality Management Solutions (QMS).

The agreement, signed on Friday, November 21, 2025, at the LMHRA headquarters in Mamba Point, sets 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's existing regulatory framework.

Speaking at the inception meeting, Dr. Luke Bawo, Managing Director of the LMHRA, described the agreement as a "big leap" for the health sector but offered a stark assessment of the current reality. He noted that 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,” Dr. Bawo admitted. “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 explained that 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,” Dr. Bawo added. “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 of Liberia (LMHRA).

Shoaib Mirza, General Manager of QMS, outlined the technical scope of the project. He stated 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 Quality Management System that ensures the lab is legally identifiable, impartial, and consistent,” Mirza said. He 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 Liberia of harmful medicines,” Mirza concluded.
Dr. Bawo emphasized that the path to this 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,” Dr. Bawo noted. “We have received the official approval to modernize this laboratory, and despite distractions, we are headed in the right direction.”

Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman, Deputy Managing Director of LMHRA, welcomed the partnership as a major milestone for consumer protection. “Together, we have the opportunity to build a facility that will serve as a model of excellence in quality assurance,” she said, urging the technical teams to engage in open dialogue and shared learning.

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.
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.

21/11/2025

Hon. Dr. Luke Bawo , the Senior Management and Staff of the Liberia Medicines & Health Products Regulatory Authority wishes you a blessed and wonderful birthday! ​Our prayer for you is that God grants you all the desires of your heart that align with His perfect plan, that He protects you and your loved ones, and that He multiplies every good thing you do. May your light shine ever brighter. Enjoy your special day MD 🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈!

09/11/2025

LMHRA Leadership Travels for Key International Engagements
-Assures Operational Continuity

(November 9, 2025-MONROVIA)–The leadership of the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has embarked on a series of crucial international engagements, with both the Managing Director and the Deputy Managing Director departing Liberia for separate missions to strengthen regulatory capacity and collaboration on the African and global stages.

LMHRA Managing Director, Dr. Luke L. Bawo, departed the country yesterday for Mombasa, Kenya, to participate in the 7th Biennial Scientific Conference on Medicines Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA VII). The high-level conference, serves as a platform to advance regulatory science and harmonization across the continent.

The 7th Biennial Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA VII) will take place from November 11–13, 2025, in Mombasa, Kenya, at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa.

SCoMRA VII is a high-level platform for stakeholders across the health product ecosystem to discuss advances in regulatory science and reflect on the progress of strengthening and harmonizing regulatory systems in Africa.

The conference aims to:
Advance Regulatory Harmonisation: Review and accelerate the alignment of regulatory standards across the continent, which is foundational to the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) initiative.

Support the African Medicines Agency (AMA) define strategic actions to support the operationalization of the emerging AMA, which is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda.

its also define strategies to strengthen the continent's capacity for local manufacturing and trade of quality-assured medical products, particularly under the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Furthermore, the conference will discuss the role of innovation and digital transformation, including the ethical adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in strengthening regulatory systems.

The Sessions will cover harmonized regulatory oversight, pooled procurement, digitalization in regulation, and emergency preparedness.

While in Kenya, Dr. Bawo is also scheduled to engage in two high-level CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) Tabletop exercises, underscoring the LMHRA’s commitment to global health security and preparedness against future pandemics.

The CEPI conducts high-level tabletop exercises as a key component of its work to prepare for future pandemics, particularly to support the ambitious "100 Days Mission"—the global goal to develop safe, effective, and globally accessible vaccines within 100 days of an outbreak. CEPI has recently been involved in planned exercises focused on operationalizing the rapid response capability needed for a future "Disease X" (a novel pathogen with pandemic potential).

To ensure seamless operation during the Managing Director’s absence, Dr. Bawo has initially handed over the acting leadership role to Deputy Managing Director, Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman, who is similarly on international travel commitments to Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Freeman while in Geneva, will represent the LMHRA in key engagements.

With both the Managing and Deputy Managing Directors are away, the Authority has put in place a clear succession plan, by designating the Director for Finance and Administration, Mr. Steve Bundor, to steer the affairs of the LMHRA pending Dr. Freeman's arrival.

In a statement released prior to their departures, the LMHRA Managing Director called on all staff to fully cooperate with the delegated authorities to maintain stability and effectiveness. The directive emphasized the need for continuity, urging staff to give the acting leaders their usual cooperation "so that the LMHRA continues to operate as a well-oiled machine," reflecting the Authority’s commitment to its mandate of ensuring the safety and efficacy of medicines and health products in Liberia.

Signed: Abraham Kolleh Morris, Sr.
Assistant Communications Manager

24/10/2025

Critical Funding Gap Impedes LHMRA

(Friday, October 24, 2025; Monrovia) The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), the nation's sole guardian against Substandard and Falsified medicines and health products, is operating under severe constraints due to cripplingly low budgetary allocation, according to its Managing Director, Dr. Luke Bawo. He warned that this persistent underfunding is actively stalling the institution's critical regulatory functions and its essential plans for nationwide decentralization.
Speaking at his office in Monrovia on Monday, October 20, 2025, during an interview with the New Narrative News Online Platform, Dr. Bawo painted a stark picture of the agency’s financial reality. The LMHRA is currently operating on a meager annual budget of $1.4 million.
The Managing Director further revealed the devastating impact of this small budget: an astonishing 91 percent of the total allocation is consumed by salary payments alone. This leaves the agency with virtually no operational budget to fund its core mandate, which includes rigorous product testing, market surveillance, and critical enforcement activities aimed at protecting public health.
"The entity has been underfunded in past administrations," Dr. Bawo stated, while noting that "discussions are ongoing for an increase in budgetary allocations" with the current government.
The LMHRA's mandate is to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of medicines and health products across all of Liberia. This necessitates a strong, decentralized presence to effectively monitor the market and prevent the proliferation of dangerous, fake drugs, especially in remote areas.
However, the current financial limitations have severely hampered this crucial expansion. Dr. Bawo explained that the agency is working tirelessly to establish a sub-office with adequate manpower in all fifteen counties. Yet, out of the fifteen counties, only four currently have a functioning sub-office.
The lack of resources in the remaining eleven counties creates a significant vulnerability, making it easier for illicit and harmful products to enter the supply chain outside the capital. While acknowledging the challenge, the LMHRA boss announced an ambitious plan to address the gap, revealing that the establishment of the eleven remaining county sub-offices is now projected to take place "early next year," contingent upon securing the necessary funding.
Established in 2010, the LMHRA acts as the Liberian government's statutory arm with a broad set of responsibilities vital to national health security. Its core duties include:
Product Registration and Authorization: Ensuring all medicines and health products entering the market meet established safety and quality standards.
Inspection and Enforcement: Performing regular inspections of manufacturing facilities, distributors, and markets.
Quality Control: Conducting laboratory analysis of products to verify their quality.
Pharmacovigilance: Monitoring and acting on adverse drug reactions and effects.
Counterfeit Elimination: Working aggressively to eliminate counterfeit and substandard medicines, which pose a direct threat to the lives of Liberian citizens.
Without the necessary funding to hire staff, equip laboratories, conduct frequent field inspections, and establish a presence in all counties, the agency's ability to execute these life-saving functions remains severely compromised, leaving the public vulnerable.
Dr. Bawo's comments serve as a clear call for increased investment in the country's public health infrastructure. The success of the LMHRA in guaranteeing access to safe and effective medication is directly tied to its budget. As the agency engages in ongoing discussions with the government, the focus remains on securing an allocation that reflects the critical, life-protecting nature of its mission.