Pharmacovigilance must become part of annual health review - FDA

Mr. Hudu Mogtari, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), says, pharmacovigilance (PV) must be a vital component of the nation’s annual health review activity.

This, he noted, was important to reduce adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the healthcare delivery system.

“There is always the importance to continuously monitor medical drugs and devices because there is always limited knowledge at first marketing, to reduce economic burden and to ensure public confidence.”

Mr. Mogtari said this in a speech read for him in Sunyani at a one-day PV sensitisation workshop for healthcare professionals in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The workshop, the first in the series being organized nationwide by the FDA, was attended by about 70 participants including district health directors, institutional contact persons, and representatives of hospital drug technical committees.

The goal was to sensitize and aid them to give comprehensive reports on PV at their annual review meetings.

He made reference to the United Kingdom (UK), where “5,700 deaths are caused by ADRs, annually” and said it was likely Ghana was losing huge human and financial resources due to the same factor.

He expressed worry that PV activities in the health facilities were fragmented and did not address all components of a comprehensive PV and medicine safety system.

To help tackle the situation, Mr. Mogtari announced that the FDA together with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), had put in place an amended Assessment Tool to monitor and identify the strengths and weaknesses of health facilities with respect to PV.

It would allow healthcare facilities to track their progress over time and enable them to report on the progress made.

Dr. Osei Kuffour Afreh, the Deputy Regional Health Director (Public Health), said the aim was to enhance patient care and safety in relation to the use medicines.