Indian Medical Association (IMA) Tamil Nadu branch, in association with Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), is organising a continuing medical education (CME) programme on ‘Pharmacovigilance & the Role of Practising Doctors in it’, in Chennai on February 22.

IPC is the national coordination centre for the pharmacovigilance programme of India under the aegis of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

According to Dr Vijay Venkitaraman, Honorary secretary (Elect) for Coimbatore branch, who coordinates the program, IMA Tamil Nadu is proud to collaborate with the IPC for conducting the programme as pharmacovigilance becomes more and more significant with the sudden withdrawal of high-profile drugs from the market and their subsequent conditional re-introduction. He said the program aims at improving awareness among the practising doctors on the importance of reporting suspected adverse drug reactions to the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and providing training on the methodology of reporting while highlighting the pivotal role played by clinicians in ensuring patient safety.

He points out that WHO defines pharmacovigilance as the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other drug-related  problem (pertaining to the usage of medications and/or medical devices during clinical trials as well as after the drug or device has been approved for marketing).

The primary objective of pharmacovigilance is to ensure what therapy renders more benefit than risk to the patient. The aims of the program are to enhance patient care and patient safety in relation to the use of medicines throughout the world, and to support public health programmes by providing reliable, balanced information for the effective assessment of the risk-benefit profile of medicines.

The IPC has been organizing nationwide CMEs to create awareness about the PvPI as well as the roles and responsibilities of medical practitioners in reporting suspected adverse drug reactions to the programme.

“With the IMA Headquarters already recognizing the importance of pharmacovigilance and having established the IMA Pharmacovigilance Education Cell almost a decade ago, it is evident that achieving excellence in Pharmacovigilance in India is a shared goal for PvPI and IMA,” said Dr Vijay.

The programme will be held at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha at T Nagar from 1 pm onwards.