The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), has conducted a series of awareness seminars to strengthen pharmacovigilance and promote medication safety in the country.
The activities were held as part of the Pharmacovigilance Awareness and Outreach Plan and in observance of #MedSafetyWeek. Faculty members, students and healthcare professionals participated in the seminars organised at King Edward Medical University Lahore, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST) Islamabad, Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore, and Lahore College for Women University Lahore.
During the sessions, the DRAP-WHO team briefed participants on the pharmacovigilance process and highlighted the significance of reporting adverse events. The participants were also informed about the available reporting channels for submitting reports to the National and Provincial Pharmacovigilance Centres.
Participants expressed their commitment to improving adverse event reporting and contributing to the safer use of medicines.
In separate engagements, the DRAP-WHO team met the Vice Chancellors of King Edward Medical University and the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. The meetings focused on exploring opportunities to include pharmacovigilance in the curricula of relevant healthcare disciplines and to create awareness among undergraduate students.
The team also held discussions with the Directors of the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) on strengthening adverse event reporting through VigiFlow and VigiMobile. The use of standardised reporting forms as part of the implementation of Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) was also discussed.
The initiative underlined the need to promote a culture of reporting and make medicines safer for everyone through stronger pharmacovigilance practices.
