Union Health Minister inaugurates the 38th Annual Meeting of Representatives of National Pharmacovigilance Centres

Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission to become the first WHO Collaborating Center for
Safety of Medicines and Vaccines in the WHO South-East Asia Region

 Mr J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare inaugurated the 38th Annual Meeting of Representatives of the National Pharma co vigilance Centers participating in the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring.

At the inaugural event it was announced that the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission is in the process of becoming the first WHO Collaborating Center for Safety of Medicines and Vaccines in the South-East Asia Region.

Hosted annually by one of the WHO Member States, the meeting acts as a platform for countries to discuss current issues and concerns in pharma co vigilance. This year, the meeting has been hosted by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, the National Coordinating Center - Pharma co vigilance Programme of India with active support from WHO from 4-6 November 2015. More than 150 international delegates from over 57 countries are attending the meeting.

In his inaugural address, the Health Minister emphasized that the success of pharma co vigilance depends on the state of art reporting, cutting edge use of information and communications technology to process and analyze information for immediate corrective measures, which needs to be supported by a highly calibrated
audit process. The Minister applauded the WHO Collaborating Centers across the globe, which serve as platforms for knowledge transfer and act as catalysts for developing the next level good pharma co vigilance practices and awareness of adverse drug reactions and their reporting.

In her message, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region said, “The meeting is timely and expected to facilitate partnerships between WHO Member States, collaborating centers of WHO, Adverse Drug Reaction monitoring centers of the Pharma co vigilance Programme of India, industry and research institutions to showcase best practices of pharma co vigilance towards ensuring safety of medicines.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) highlighted that there are several challenges in medical sector and public health systems that have heightened the need for pharma co vigilance, such as medicines coming from countries where regulatory standards may not be very strong, increasingly dependence of people on online platforms for medical guidance and self-medication etc.

Other prominent dignitaries at the inaugural were: Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services, MoHFW; Mr K.B. Agarwal, Additional Secretary, MoHFW; Mr K.L. Sharma, Joint Secretary, MoHFW; Dr G.N. Singh, Secretary-Cum-Scientific Director, IPC; Dr Lembit Rägo, Head of Regulation Medicines and other Health Technologies, Essential Medicines and Health Products (EMP), WHO HQ and his colleagues Dr Clive Ondari, Coordinator, Safety and Vigilance of Medicines, WHO HQ; Dr Shanthi Pal,
Group Lead, Medicines Safety, Safety & Vigilance, WHO HQ, and Ms Prakin Suchaxaya, Coordinator, Health Programmes, WHO Country Office for India.

Stressing the need to spearhead efforts to scale-up regulatory pharma co vigilance, modernize information exchange, collaboration and networking among national centers for pharma co vigilance, Dr Lembit Rägo, Head, Regulation of Medicines & other Health Technologies, WHO HQ said, “Integrating pharma co vigilance as an essential component of public health programmes (PHPs) is crucial for patient
safety.”

Two pre-events preceded the main meeting: a workshop on the WHO ATC/DDD (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification/ Defined Daily Dose) methodology and Drug Utilization Research from 2-3 November 2015 and “Let’s talk PV!, the second pre-meeting workshop conducted by the WHO Collaborating Center for International Drug Monitoring, the Uppsala Monitoring Center, Sweden, on 3 November 2015.

The opening day of the meeting witnessed participation of delegates from regulatory agencies, academic institutions, collaborating centers, member states and industry. Problems of current interest, several areas of critical importance and advancements in pharma co vigilance were deliberated. Over the past 30 years, the network of pharma co vigilance centers has grown immensely and the annual meetings have become a significant forum for discussions on advancement made in the area of safe medicines. The 37th Annual Meeting in 2014 was held in China, hosted by the Chinese Food and Drug Authority.

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