BERC-Luso participates in the Forum of Regulators from Lusophone Countries

BERC-Luso was invited to take part in the Forum of Regulators from Lusophone Countries, organised by the Autoridade Nacional de Medicamento Produtos de Saúde I.P. (INFARMED) as part of its 30th anniversary, which took place on 16 January 2024.

The event, which was attended by the Portuguese Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, aimed to bring together the High Authorities for Medicines of the Portuguese-speaking countries in order to develop and consolidate cooperation activities.

BERC-Luso was presented as a successful example of Lusophone cooperation, and its coordinator, Prof. Dr. Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, presented the project in its successive stages of implementation, as well as the impact it has had in terms of revising legislation on biomedical research, creating and organising institutions for the ethical review of scientific projects, and at political, legislative, academic, professional and civic levels. A high level of success was achieved in terms of fulfilling the objectives set at the start of the project in all the partner countries. A total of 311 activities were carried out, with an impact on at least 3848 professionals from different backgrounds. More than 172 hours of training were given and the project was widely publicized through television, radio and media.

The Forum of Regulators from Lusophone Countries also included a round table discussion on "Current perspectives and challenges for regulatory bodies", which was attended by representatives of the various Medicines Regulatory Authorities: Brazil (ANVISA), Angola (ARMED), Cape Verde (ERIS), Guinea Bissau (ARFAME), Mozambique (ANARME), São Tomé and Príncipe (ARFAMED) and East Timor (DNFM).

BERC-Luso BERC-Luso in the 11th EDCTP Forum, Paris

BERC-Luso took part in the 11th EDCTP Forum - Partnering for Global Health Research Innovation and Impact in Africa, which took place between 7 and 10 November in Paris. The project's coordinator, Professor Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, presented the abstract "Evaluation of the legislative, educational, training, institutional and social impact of the BERC-Luso Project in Portuguese-speaking African countries", as part of the panel "Strengthening the ethical and regulatory framework".

In the year in which the EDCTP programme celebrates 20 years of activity, BERC-Luso took the opportunity to announce the excellent results obtained at the end of the project. BERC-Luso aimed to develop Ethical and Regulatory Capacity in Portuguese-speaking African countries, acting at institutional and professional level, through the development of a comparative legislative study of the current legal framework and comparison with international good practice and its implementation in partner countries; to develop educational and training programmes to promote capacity building in ethical and regulatory review of NECs and NRAs; and to create a digital repository in Portuguese to accompany the project, support complementary actions after its end, extend training and serve as an example for other projects of the same scope.

This abstract measured and evaluated the overall impact of the BERC-Luso Project in its many dimensions: legislative, educational, training, institutional and implementation of good practices.

In all the partner countries, a high level of success was achieved through the fulfilment of the objectives set at the start of the project. A total of 311 activities were carried out, with an impact on at least 3,848 professionals from different backgrounds. More than 172 hours of training were given, and the project was widely broadcasted through television, radio and the media in at least six countries.

The BERC-Luso project continues active, maintaining close relations between the project's five African partner countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe), promoting online meetings, webinars and working together to facilitate the partners' work in developing national systems for regulating medicines and capacities for the ethical review of clinical research.

BERC-Luso present in the 81st FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brisbane, Australia

The 81st World Congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) took place last September, from 24 to 28 September, in Brisbane, Australia. This year's theme was "Pharmacy buiding a sustainable future for healthcare - Alingning goals to 2030". BERC-Luso, through Leonor Soares, from the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Association, took the opportunity to publicise the results obtained during the project, with the presentation of a poster "Global Evaluation On The Impact Of The BERC-Luso Project" and an oral presentation "Biomedical Ethics and Regulatory Capacity Building Partnership for Portuguese Speaking African Countries- BERC-Luso".

A set of indicators was co-constructed between BERC-Luso partners, developing a national roadmap with actions to lever development at different levels. Roadmaps included strategic actions to reinforce ethics and regulatory capacities in each country. Indicators were evaluated at the end of the project (not completed, partially completed, completed) and compared with the action’s descriptive analysis. Score points were attributed to each indicator, with the calculation of score mean values. From 57 defined (the set of indicators defined for the 5 countries), 63.16% were fully completed and 36.84% were partially completed. All proposed objectives were completed. Analysis per country shows varying degrees of success (from 60.00% to 96.43%). Overall, a high level of success (78.59%) was achieved through roadmap and indicators’ analysis.

BERC-Luso had a high impact in all the partner countries, with the development of a sense of community and ownership due to the different bottom-up and top-down approaches. All the activities that were carried out during the project period were considered a success, having achieved the proposed objectives.

Audience of BERC-Luso Coordination Team with Cape Verde Ambassador

Fevereiro de 2020

The BERC-Luso Coordination Team has an audience with the Cape Verde Ambassador, Dr. Eurico Correia Monteiro, on February 4, 2020. The BERC-Luso is represented by Prof. Maria do Céu Patrão Neves and Mr. Jorge Batista, who present the the most recent developments of the project as well as the training program that takes place in Cape Verde, in Cidade da Praia, from the 17th to the 22nd of February.

Audience of BERC-Luso Coordination with São Tomé and Príncipe Ambassador

October 2019

The BERC-Luso Coordination  has an audience with the current  Ambassador of São Tomé and Príncipe, Mr. António Quintas do Espírito Santo, on October 30, 2019. The BERC-Luso is represented by Prof. Maria do Céu Patrão Neves. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of São Tomé and Príncipe, Mrs. Elsa Maria Teixeira de Barros Pinto is present during this meeting in which the interest of São Tomé and Príncipe formally integrate the project is strengthened.

79th FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

September 22-26, 2019, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

BERC-Luso successfully participated in the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which took place on September 22-26 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

A scientific work was presented by Mr. Jorge Batista in the poster format, with the title "Building Biomedical Ethics / Regulatory Capacity in Portuguese Speaking African Countries: BERC-luso".

This poster presented the results already achieved by BERC-Luso in this first year of work, specifically the Comparative Legislative Study between the legislation on biomedical research of partner countries and international good practices. The legislative study and the monitoring that the political entities representing the partner countries have given it, are favorable conditions for the establishment of a more consolidated legal framework aiming at ethical and regulatory capacity building in the biomedical research are of the African Portuguese Speaking Countries.

Download the poster

Audience of BERC-Luso Coordination Team with São Tomé and Príncipe Ambassador

March 2019

The BERC-Luso Coordination Team has an audience with the São Tomé and Príncipe Ambassador, Dr. Luís Viegas, on March 22, 2019. The BERC-Luso is represented by Prof. Maria do Céu Patrão Neves and Dr. Jorge Batista, who present the project and express the organization’s interest in São Tomé and Príncipe formally joining the BERC-Luso.

Meeting with Advisors of the Embassies of Angola and Cape Verde

February 2019

A meeting with advisers of the embassies of the project’s partner countries is held on February 21, 2019, at the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society. Dr. João Bastos from Angola (left in the photo), Dr. Sónia Martins (middle) and Dr. Filomena Lopes (right) from Cape Verde are present. Representatives from Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique aren’t able to attend but keep informed. The main goal of the meeting is the organization of the BERC-Luso Symposium.

1st Meeting of the Executive Board of the Portuguese Council

November 2018

The 1st Meeting of the Executive Board of the Portuguese Council is held on November 15. The following members of the beneficiary entities are present (left to right in the photo): Prof. Carla Torre (OF), Prof. Maria Alexandra Ribeiro (CEIC), Dr. Eduardo Pereira (OF), Prof. Maria do Céu Patrão Neves (Coordinator of the BERC-Luso Project), Prof. Maria do Céu Machado (INFARMED), Dr. Joana Martins (Assistant of the BERC-Luso Project), Dr. Sandra Pereira (IB-UCP) and Prof. Joana Araújo (IB-UCP).