Journal of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems
Open Access
ISSN: 2376-0419
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2376-0419
+44 1300 500008
Oscar Simooya
Copperbelt University, Zambia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Pharma Care Health Sys
It is estimated that 5% of all admissions to hospital can be attributed in whole or in part to the effects of drugs. Furthermore, 10-20% of all hospitalized patients may experience a serious adverse drug reaction (ADR) whilst in hospital. It has also been reported that ADRs are a major cause death in the USA while other workers report that ADRs may contribute between 5-10% of hospital costs. It has therefore been recognized that awareness and the monitoring of ADRs or pharmacovigilance is an important component of good health care delivery. In developed countries like the USA, the United Kingdom and in most of Western Europe there are specialized agencies that monitor ADRs. The information collected by these agencies is then analyzed and reported back to the health care providers. Most of the knowledge of drugs and their effects have therefore come from these countries. To our knowledge, in Zambia, as in most other resource constrained settings, pharmacovigilance is an emerging science and to a large extent there are few reports about drug use and ADRs. This paper will look at the challenges and opportunities for pharmacovigilance in these settings. It is proposed that spontaneous reporting the prime methodology for ADR monitoring should go hand in hand with robust cohort event monitoring (CEM) in order to maximize limited resources that may affect health delivery in these regions.
Email: Oscar.simooya@cbu.ac.zm