The institutions of Lithuania and the Republic of Northern Macedonia continue their cooperation in the field of European Union integration. On 2019 September 13 the kick-off event of another short-term project of the Twinning Program, “Harmonization of Medicinal Products Legislation with EU Legislation and Capacity Building for its Implementation” took place. This project is the eleventh Twinning programme project in the country, in which Lithuanians are sharing their expertise with colleagues from N. Macedonia.
The project is implemented by the State Medicines Control Agency under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania (VVKT) together with the Central Project Management Agency (CPVA). It aims to help the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of North Macedonia (MALEMD) to bring its drug and medical device laws into line with EU requirements and to strengthen its institutional capacity. The project consists of three components. The first is to bring the legislation of Northern Macedonia into line with EU law. The second component will strengthen the administrative capacity of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices in North Macedonia to be able to comply with EU legislation. The third component results in recommendations for the implementation of a drug intake system in Northern Macedonia.
Due to the signifinacne of the project in North Macedonia, the event was attented by the Minister of Health of the Republic of North Macedonia Dr. Venko Filipche, Head of Cooperation at Delegation of the EU to the Republic of North Macedonia Mr. Nicola Bertolini, Director of the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of North Macedonia Ms. Visara Riza, VVKT Director and Project Leader Dr. Gytis Andrulionis and Ms. Merjem Hadjihamza, Head of Unit for Pharmacoeconomic and Pharmacoepidemilogical Issues at the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices and Project Leader in North Macedonia.
The value of the EU-funded Twinning project is € 250,000. The duration of the project is 8 months.
The first Twinning project won by Lithuania in North Macedonia was in 2010. Since then, the Lithuanian authorities have continued to strengthen their international cooperation with North Macedonia via Twinning projects in various fields: health, security, environment and customs. In total, since joining the EU, Lithuania has implemented over 90 Twinning projects in all of the EU neighborhood regions.
