Published: July 10, 2026
MONROVIA – The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has warned that the country is facing a growing public health crisis fueled by the widespread circulation of substandard and counterfeit medicines, unveiling an ambitious five-year strategic plan aimed at overhauling the nation’s drug regulatory system, expanding product testing and restoring public confidence in healthcare.
Speaking Thursday during the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing, LMHRA Managing Director Dr. L. Luke Bawa said while Liberia has made significant progress in strengthening its health system since the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks, ensuring the quality and safety of medicines remains one of the country’s greatest challenges.
“We are facing challenges in the health sector. We have a health crisis on our hands. Why do I say so? Over the past 10 years, since the outbreak of Ebola and subsequently the outbreak of COVID-19, we have recognized weaknesses within the health sector and have made tremendous improvements,” Bawa said.
He noted that the government has expanded health facilities, strengthened diagnostic services, trained health workers and distributed donor-supported medical supplies across the country.
However, he said the inability to effectively regulate the quality of medicines and health products circulating on the Liberian market continues to undermine those gains.
According to Bawa, the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan aligns with the government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), particularly Program 43, which focuses on health sector reforms.
He said the LMHRA has adopted product testing as a key performance indicator and aims to test 95 percent of all medicines and health products in circulation by 2030.
“As a proxy measure for evaluating progress in regulatory system reform, we selected product testing. Through our monitoring and evaluation framework, we have determined that by 2030, we will be able to test 95 percent of health products circulating in the country,” he said.
Bawa outlined six strategic priorities under the new plan, beginning with building a more efficient, resilient, decentralized and sustainable regulatory system.
He disclosed that the LMHRA currently operates only in Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi and Nimba counties, with activities largely concentrated on border inspections.
“In the counties where we currently operate, our focus is primarily on border inspections. Our decentralization effort aims to establish miniature versions of the LMHRA in all 15 counties,” he said.
Other priorities include institutionalizing a quality management system, developing an integrated regulatory management information system, strengthening partnerships, building a highly skilled workforce and expanding infrastructure while mobilizing resources to sustain regulatory operations.
“The sixth goal is to strengthen infrastructure and mobilize resources to sustain our regulatory functions. These are the six strategic goals we identified,” he added.
Bawa also announced that the LMHRA is nearing completion of Liberia’s first comprehensive health product testing laboratory, which is expected to be inaugurated by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai within the next three to four months.
The laboratory will be capable of testing allopathic medicines, herbal products, cosmetics and dietary supplements.
“We will automate all our processes from end to end so that applicants will no longer need to visit the LMHRA physically. Anyone, anywhere in the world, will be able to apply and receive results for product testing, premises registration, and other regulatory services,” he said.
He further disclosed that the authority will expand nationwide post-market surveillance within the next four months, building on recent operations in Bong County that resulted in the seizure of counterfeit and falsified medicines.
As part of the modernization effort, the LMHRA will introduce an automated track-and-trace system requiring every health product imported into Liberia to carry a QR code.
“Every health product entering the country will carry a QR code. Any clinician, inspector, or concerned citizen will simply scan the QR code with a smartphone,” Bawa explained.
He said the system will instantly display critical information, including the product’s name, strength, dosage form, manufacturer, importer, manufacturing date and expiration date, making it easier to identify counterfeit medicines.
The LMHRA boss also announced plans to commission Liberia’s first pharmaceutical waste disposal facility in Coco Town, Lower Margibi County, within the next three months.
According to him, the facility will include a high-capacity self-loading incinerator, a decontamination pit, a bottle crusher and administrative offices to safely dispose of expired and confiscated pharmaceutical products.
Bawa added that the authority is also exploring environmentally friendly methods of recycling expired and substandard medicines into useful products rather than simply destroying them.
He said successful implementation of the strategic plan will result in the LMHRA establishing offices in all 15 counties, significantly expanding medicine testing, improving regulatory compliance, fully automating regulatory services, strengthening enforcement against counterfeit medicines and developing a highly skilled workforce.
“The expected outcomes of implementing this strategic plan are clear. The LMHRA will have a presence in all 15 counties, with enhanced testing of medicines and health products nationwide. Regulatory compliance will improve, we will have fully automated systems, strengthened control over substandard and falsified products, a highly skilled and motivated workforce, and, most importantly, increased public confidence in the health sector,” he said.
Bawa emphasized that every component of the plan is centered on the authority’s core responsibility of protecting Liberians from unsafe medicines.
“All of these initiatives are directed toward fulfilling our principal mandate: protecting the Liberian people from the harmful effects of falsified and substandard medicines,” he said.
He concluded by thanking President Boakai, the Ministry of Health and other partners for supporting the authority’s reforms.
“I leave you with one final message: The health system is only as good as the health products in circulation.”
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