Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) is considering the proposal from Karnataka to set up centre for pharmacovigilance (PV) at all the government hospitals attached to the medical colleges in the state. The central government will now provide the staff and infrastructure to commission the centres.

The need for a centre for pharmacovigilance at all government medical college hospitals in the state was initiated by Karnataka drugs controller Dr BR Jagashetty. He was sponsored by the Union government for a pharmacovigilance training programme in Colombo, Sri Lanka last year and found it necessary to start centres in government medical college hospitals to keep tabs on Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs).

The state health and family welfare department has identified 16 locations which covers 12 govt medical college hospitals and six govt independent hospitals to establish the centre for pharmacovigilance.

The 12 colleges from the 10 districts are  Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Government Dental College and Hospital, Bangalore,  Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI), Bellary Medical College now renamed as Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences, Government Dental College and Research Institute, Bellary, Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli  which is attached to the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Belgaum Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS), Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BRIMS), Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS). The six hospitals are Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and SDS Sanatorium, Karnataka Institute of Diabetology and Karnataka Institute of Nephrology.

The Karnataka department of health and family welfare has sent a letter of intent on the same to these institutions. Pharmacovigilance monitors adverse drug reactions. The Centres will monitor and evaluate the information from hospitals on ADR besides identifying information on drug hazards to ensure the safety of patients, Dr Jagashetty said.

Now that we have selected the government medical college hospitals, we are now looking to identify private hospitals to start the centre for pharmacovigilance, he added.

There are already a couple of similar centres run by pharmacy colleges in the state. These include Drug Information Centre at Victoria Hospital supported by the Al Ameen College of Pharmacy.