Dhaka, Bangladesh — A memorandum of understanding was signed on November 11, 2012 between UNTAID and Partners in Population and Development (PPD), with an aim to work together to promote South-South Partnership. Dr. Denis Broun, Executive Director of UNITAID and Dr. Joe Thomas, Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations in presence of H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorable Minister, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; H.E. Prof. AFM Ruhal Haque, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; H.E. Mr. Chen Li, Honorable Vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC), Government of the People’s Republic of China.
The MOU is basically for one year and it may continue depending on the assessment. Whereas the scopes of work include; carry out a rapid assessment of regulatory barriers to lifesaving commodities in partner countries, identify specific actions for reducing regulatory barriers and improve regulatory efficiency, and develop a detailed work plan to promote south to south partnership in reducing regulatory barriers and improve regulatory efficiency.
It should be stated that, UNITAID was launched in 2006 by the Governments of Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom to provide sustainable funding for the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is an inter-governmental alliance of 25 developing countries mandated to promote South-South Cooperation in the area of Reproductive Health, Population and Development and was incepted in conjunction with the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994.