About us
WHO’s Department of Regulation and Prequalification (RPQ) helps ensure that medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices and other health products used around the world are safe, effective, quality-assured and accessible. It supports countries in strengthening their regulatory systems, develops international norms and standards, assesses health products, and operates WHO’s prequalification programme, which evaluates products and manufacturers against rigorous quality, safety and performance requirements.
This work is critically important because patients, health workers and governments often cannot independently verify whether a medical product is safe or of good quality. By helping national regulatory authorities function effectively and by providing trusted assessments of health products, WHO, through RPQ’s work, protects people from substandard and falsified products while accelerating access to lifesaving medicines, vaccines and diagnostics.
Its work is especially vital during public health emergencies, when rapid access to reliable medical products can save lives. Through regulatory preparedness, emergency use assessments and global collaboration, the department helps countries respond more effectively to health crises while supporting progress toward universal health coverage and equitable access to essential health products.
Contact
RPQinfo@who.int
World Health Organization
Department of Regulation and Prequalifaction
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Our management team
Director
Professor Rogério Gaspar - Director of Regulation and Prequalification Department at World Health Organization.
Learn moreUnit Head - Prequalification
Telephone: +41 22 791 4637
Email: khadembroojerdia@who.int
Unit Head - Regulation and Safety
Telephone: +41 22 791 2486
Email: silloh@who.int
The Regulation and Prequalification Department is composed of two units.
The Regulation and Safety Unit is responsible for strengthening national, regional, and global regulatory systems to ensure the quality, safety, and effectiveness of medical products throughout their entire life cycle. Its work supports public health protection while enabling timely and equitable access to quality‑assured health products.
The Prequalification Unit is responsible for assessing and listing health products that meet WHO global standards of quality, safety, and efficacy/performance, in order to facilitate timely access to reliable, quality‑assured medical products—particularly in countries with limited regulatory capacity.