DRAP holds training on pharmacovigilance development

Islamabad: Experts from the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) are in town to conduct

a a training of trainers’ workshop on ‘Pharmacovigilance Development in Pakistan,’ which teed off at the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) here Monday with DRAP officers and focal persons from Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Shifa International, and Agha Khan University Hospital in benefiting from the training.

The training is being conducted in connection with the development of a

Pharmacovigilance Center in Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan but the first

target is to attain full membership of World Health Organisation Pharmacovigilance (PV) Center at Upssala, Sweden.

Speaking on the occasion the CEO of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan welcomed international PV experts Dr. Souly Phanouvong and Dr. Rachida Soulaymani, and participants from provincial Drug Control Units and Public Health Programmes, and apprised them that with the promulgation of DRAP Act in 2012, PV section was developed in the Division of Pharmacy Services.

“The PV section has developed PV guidelines and online reporting forms for healthcare professionals, patients/consumers and manufacturers/importers of therapeutic goods; moreover, PV Rules 2018 are in the process of development to provide legal cover,” the CEO stated.

Dr. Souly Phanouvong, Dr. Rachida Soulaymani and Khalid Saeed Bukhari from USP highlighted the importance of adverse event reporting to PV Center and how these reports would be analyzed and forwarded to the World Health Organisation PV Center at Upssala, Sweden. They emphasized that PV is a science and needs a lot of training to detect and assess adverse events.