Through international collaborations, WHO promotes the global safety of medical products by establishing worldwide pharmacovigilance standards and systems, and coordinating global networks for monitoring, assessing and preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or any other medicine-related problems.
Countries rely on effective ADRs reporting systems to make sure medicines on the market are acceptably safe. Unfortunately, all reporting systems suffer from under reporting.
#MedSafetyWeek is an international social media campaign organized every year by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre to raise awareness of ADRs and national reporting systems. This year, the campaign takes place from 25-29 November and its theme of polypharmacy – which means taking many medicines.
Studies show that one third of people > 75 years old take at least six medicines, with over one million people taking eight or more medicines daily. Polypharmacy has become an important risk factor because of side effects and drug interactions. Reporting side effects helps safe use when taking multiple medicines.
This campaign aims to:
- Encourage people who take multiple medicines, especially the elderly or those with long-term conditions, to report ADRs,
- Urge healthcare professionals to review their patients’ medication intake, especially when prescribing or administrating multiple medicines, and to be vigilant to monitor, detect and report ADRs to the national drug regulatory authority.