Delese Darko
Chief Executive Officer
Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana
Accra, Ghana
Dr. Delese Mimi Darko is the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority Ghana with a Doctorate Degree in Pharmacology and a Bachelor of Pharmacy.
My organisation
About me
Dr. Delese Mimi Darko graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with a Doctorate Degree in Pharmacology and a Bachelor of Pharmacy, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Northampton.
-She has over 32 years of expertise in the field of food and medical product regulation, beginning with product testing in the laboratory and progressing to lead the marketing authorization, post approval safety monitoring of medicines, and clinical trials duties. Mimi was key to the FDA being designated as a Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence in three critical areas by the NEPAD/African Medicines Regulation Harmonization (AMRH) in 2014: Medicines Safety (pharmacovigilance); Clinical Trials Oversight; and Drug Registration.
Mimi rose through the ranks of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the post of Deputy Chief Executive Officer before being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2017, making her the FDA's first staff member to hold this position. The FDA's regulatory system for both food and medical items has improved tremendously during her tenure.
The FDA attained WHO Maturity Level 3 for medicines and vaccines (non-producing) in 2020 and is therefore deemed to operate as a stable, well-functioning, and well-integrated regulatory system.
In 2022, the Drugs Laboratory attained WHO Maturity Level 4 and was designated as a WHO-Prequalified Quality Control Laboratory, making it the first laboratory in West/Central Africa to do so.
She is leading the FDA to play a key role in making Ghana a vaccine-manufacturing country.
Mimi currently chairs the Steering Committee of the WHO African Vaccines Regulatory Forum (AVAREF) and is a member of the CEPI Advisory Board and the COVAX Maternal Immunization Working Group.
My organisation
We are the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana, dedicated to ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices in the country. Our mission is to protect public health by regulating and overseeing the production, importation, distribution, and sale of these products. We work tirelessly to enforce standards and regulations to safeguard the well-being of all Ghanaian citizens.
Speaker sessions (1)
Wednesday, 3 July 2024
14:00 - 15:00