The Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) and the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone (PBSL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening the use of technology, data and digital systems in pharmaceutical regulation.
The agreement was signed on behalf of DSTI by its Director and Chief Operating Officer, Jasper Patrick Sembie. The Pharmacy Board was represented by its Chairman, Pharm. (Dr.) Moses Batema, and Registrar and Secretary to the Board, Pharm. (Dr.) James Peter Komeh.
The partnership will focus on two key areas of the Pharmacy Board’s regulatory mandate, with DSTI providing technical support to advance digital transformation across the sector.
The first area will focus on the digital transformation of pharmacy professionals’ regulation. Drawing on DSTI’s experience supporting the Sierra Leone Nursing and Midwifery Council (SLNMC), the partnership will explore digital systems for professional registration, licensing and renewal, practitioner records, continuing professional development (CPD) and other regulatory processes.
The initiative is expected to make regulatory services more accessible to pharmacy professionals while improving the quality, availability and management of regulatory data.
The second area will focus on strengthening the Board’s oversight of pharmaceutical premises, medicines and other regulated products through digital tools.
Potential areas of collaboration include premises licensing, pharmaceutical product and regulatory information management, inspection and compliance workflows, application tracking, automated notifications, dashboards and regulatory analytics.
According to DSTI, the proposed digital systems could reduce reliance on manual processes, strengthen data integrity and audit trails, improve visibility over applications and regulatory actions, and provide the Pharmacy Board with better information for monitoring licences, premises, compliance and institutional performance.
For pharmacy professionals and regulated businesses, the digital transformation could also reduce unnecessary physical visits, improve access to information and create a more predictable regulatory process.
The partnership forms part of DSTI’s broader efforts to expand digital transformation across Sierra Leone’s health sector. Its initiatives include PReSTrack, which applies technology to maternal health, the SLNMC Digital Regulatory Platform for nurses and midwives, and ongoing engagement with the Allied Health Professions Council to support the digitisation of allied health professional regulation.
The latest partnership brings pharmacy professionals and the wider pharmaceutical regulatory ecosystem into the country’s growing digital health portfolio.
DSTI said the initiative is not simply about replacing paper-based processes with electronic forms, but about redesigning institutional operations, strengthening the use of data and delivering public services that are more efficient, transparent, accountable and people-centred.
The Directorate said it looks forward to working with the Pharmacy Board to build a more connected, data-driven and digitally enabled pharmaceutical regulatory environment, with the broader goal of strengthening institutional capacity and contributing to the protection of public health in Sierra Leone.
