PALIKIR, Pohnpei—The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commonwealth of Australia to participate in Phase Two of the Pacific Medicine Testing Program which will commence in July 2021.
The Pacific Medicine Testing Program is a program that the Australian Government first piloted from September 2017 to June 1 , 2021 to provide medicine quality laboratory testing services to Pacific Island countries, like the FSM, through the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia’s regulator of medicines and medical devices.
Each financial year, the FSM was offered three medicine samples to be tested for quality assurance purposes, and two samples to be tested in response to a complaint about a medicine. The quality assurance testing was focused on non-communicable disease (NCD) medicines and antibiotics. The costs of all laboratory testing services were born by the Australian Government, and the FSM was only required to pay the freight cost for sending the medicine samples to Canberra, Australia, for testing.
During the short signing ceremony, Acting Secretary of the Department of Health & Social Affairs, Mr. Marcus Samo, and Her Excellency Jo Cowley, Ambassador of Australia to the FSM, affirmed mutual agreement and understanding with respect to the testing program offered by the Australian Government. Witnessing the signing were Deputy Assistant Secretary Kenmore Salvador from the Department of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Takuro Steele from the Australian Embassy in Pohnpei; and Mr. Dionisio Saimon, Mr. Stuard Penias, and Ms. Resel Elias from the Department of Health & Social Affairs.
In line with the pilot program, Phase Two will continue to provide access to the expertise and laboratory testing services of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, with all costs of laboratory testing services again being born by the Australian Government.
“While I regret I could not attend the signing ceremony myself,” His Excellency David W. Panuelo, President of the FSM, said in a statement, “I take this opportunity to again recognize our Nation’s close ties with the People and Government of Australia. On behalf of our Nation, and also in my personal capacity as a Micronesian citizen, I thank you, Ambassador Cowley, and the People and Government of Australia, for your ceaseless commitments to our own development priorities. Whether its through our security ties against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, such as through the gifting of patrol boats and training of our maritime wing, or through the Pacific Medicine Testing Program to provide laboratory testing services wherein we are now about to move forward to Phase Two, I thank you for your kindness, your compassion, and your sincerity.”
“If you ever feel compelled to convince your parliament, your media, or your family, that the Pacific Medicine Testing Program has immense value to our Nation and our citizens, let me kindly note that we do not have the necessary capacity to do laboratory testing on the medicines that we procure and use in the FSM. The Pacific Medicine Testing Program is how we get that done. The positive results may not always be measurable, but they are visibly and demonstrably real. Thank you so much.”
