In a bid to sensitise budding pharmacists about adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, pharmacovigilance will be made part of final year curriculum of B Pharm course and M Pharm course by academic year 2018-19.

It will improve ADR reporting by pharmacists in Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and will lead to better patient care.

Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has included pharmacovigilance subject in B Pharm and M Pharm syllabus, put on its website last August. It will be conducted by PCI approved pharmacy colleges from academic year 2018-19, said PCI president B Suresh.

Though pharmacovigilance is part of semester VIII of B Pharma course, it deals with basics of pharmacovigilance. Thorough approach of pharmacists towards pharmacovigilance needs to be developed to encourage ADR reporting. The latest move by PCI to include pharmacovigilance as a subject in B Pharm and M Pharm courses will increase pharmacy students' understanding of pharmacovigilance and subsequently improve their perception on ADR reporting.

Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), national coordinating authority (NCC) of PvPI had recommended PCI to include pharmacovigilance in their education curriculum to improve quantity and quality of ADRs reporting. With rise in adverse drug reaction cases, it has become imperative that pharmacists in the hospital set up and community practice report ADR. Proper knowledge needs to be provided to pharmacy graduates during their course of study so that those passing out feeling trained to carry on this new role. Absence of knowledge about ADR reporting process has also been linked with negative attitudes towards the pharmacovigilance, said pharmacovigilance expert Moin Don.

Pharmacists are primary dispensers of drugs to the public and their vital role in distributing and counselling is well suited to encourage effective use of drugs and patient safety. Their pharmacological knowledge and exposure to patient drug records make them an important contributor to pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, he concluded.