Nanomedicine faces many challenges in Southern Africa which include nonexistence of research and development partnership between pharmaceutical industry, universities and research institutions to foster its development. An integrated approach in the development of nanotechnology, generally, allows introduction into multiple fields including pharmaceutical research in which there are now a number of applications and products containing nano-materials or at least nano-based claims. As a result of increasing research in nanomedicine pre-existing medicines and new ones have been reformulated. Unfortunately, regulatory authorities in Southern Africa lack the capacity to assess nanomedicines. An investigation was carried in 7 schools of pharmacy and selected industry players to find out how much collaboration there was in the training of future nanotechnologists. Only a few well-endowed schools addressed nanotechnology, though shallowly, at undergraduate. There was, generally, no collaborative research and training with local industry which at the time of the study manufactured no nanomedicines. This created the perception that nanotechnology was not important a topic, to go into serious depth, in spite of healthcare professionals being familiar with mRNA COVID-19, and some MRI agents nanotechnology products. Therefore, there is urgent need to address the education training gap in nanomedicine among all healthcare care professionals as nanotechnology continues to evolve.

Norman Z. Nyazema, is a professor of pharmacology, University of Limpopo and visiting professor at Universities of Zimbabwe and Zambia. He is an active member of Southern African Academy of Pharmacy, SAAP,  which is there to harness the intellect of pharmaceutical science human resources of the organization. The main aim is to improve community access to safe, good quality and affordable healthcare through research, advocacy of quality teaching and learning. He is an external examiner of the South African Pharmacy Council. He has experience in the promotion of rational use of medicines and regulatory science. His current research is on cannabis, nanotechnology and regulatory science. This is addition to his work on One Health approach with particular emphasis on the prevention injudicious use of antimicrobial agents.