DUHS opens country’s first public sector pharmacovigilance centre

Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in collaboration with Dimension Research has opened the country’s first public sector pharmacovigilance centre with the aim to improve patient care and safety in relation to the use of medicines and all medical and paramedical interventions.

The facility is equally focussed at improving public health and safety in relation to the use of medicines, said Dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, DUHS, Dr Sumbul Shamim. She said equal attention was being paid towards assessment of benefit, harm, effectiveness and risk of medicines and to promote understanding, education and clinical training in pharmacovigilance. The senior pharmacologist and teacher said legal provisions do exist in Pakistan for stringent monitoring focussed at safety measures during preparation procedure as well as when the medicines were marketed and sold with specific reference to Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR).

The concerned stakeholders are required to constantly report to Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA), however, National Pharmacovigilance Centre linked to DRA did not exist in our country, she said. Dr Sumbul Shamim said the establishment of pharmacovigilance centre aimed at monitoring drugs will enable the stakeholders to learn more about why adverse drug events occur so that they may act to reduce patient deaths and counter negative health impacts arising from undetected medicines’ safety problems.

The CEO said pharmacovigilance or drug safety includes the activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other drug-related problem. He said Dimension Research (DR) Pharmacovigilance Officers will work with DUHS team to implement DUHS specific pharmacovigilance system at OJHA.

The pharmacovigilance will be updated to cater to DUHS needs while data collection will be done by DR PhV officers in collaboration with DUHS staff to be trained by DR personnel.

The collected data will be analysed by pharmacy and therapeutics committee and steps will be taken by DUHS for the safety of their patients on the basis of the safety reports.

DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Masood Hameed Khan said the university had developed a road map for the improvement of public health and safety in relation to the use of medicines.

“Dow Pharmacovigilance Centre at DUHS will be the first pharmacovigilance centre of its kind in Pakistan focusing on patients,” he said.

Pharmacovigilance will be the main aim of this centre through proper and on time monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and any other drug-related issue, he added.

Former President of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Dr Qaiser Waheed suggested the need for a reporting system in the country regarding adverse effects of drugs. He also stressed the need for having a strong liaison between academia and industry that would guarantee a sustained track of progress in Pakistan. Prof Abdul Samad and Tanveer Siddiqui also spoke on the occasion.