SCB, VSS turn monitoring centres for drug safety

CUTTACK:  Even as the advent of newer advanced and modern medicines is rapidly changing the treatment and management of diseases, it has also increased the risks of adverse drug reactions (ADR) in the ailing population. In fact, ADR-related mortality in some countries has begun to assume place among the leading cause of mortality. While increasing ADR has necessitated proper monitoring and assessment of the effect of drugs on the patients, the SCB Medical College and Hospital here along with the VSS Medical College and Hospital at Burla have been designated monitoring Centres for the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) for Assuring Drug Safety initiated by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under the Union Health Ministry. The basic objective of the programme is to evaluate the efficacy of the medicines and keep an eye on the nature or reactions that the medicines can or actually induce in the patients. By monitoring the safety profile of the medicines in use, it can be ensured that the benefits of use of medicine outweigh the risks and thus safeguard the health of the population. Under the programme, the doctors as well as nurses, pharmacologists and allied paramedical staff are being educated on the methods of detecting reactions to medications among the patients in the hospitals along with reporting on ADRs. More than the doctors, the nurses and paramedic staff are being sensitised as they are more in contact with the patient and observe him more closely and constantly.   A pharmacist has also been appointed under the programme to collect and assimilate the reports on ADR and medicine reactions from different wards and units of the hospital. The data would be extrapolated under the technical guidance of the WHO-Uppsala Monitoring Centre, Sweden. According to CDSCO, the pharmaceutical industry in India is over ` 90,000 crore and growing at a rate of 12-14 per cent per annum. New drug applications, global clinical trials, market authorisation of vaccine and biotech products which were 1200, 100 and 10 respectively in 2005 have gone up to 1753, 262 and 137 respectively by 2009. The fast-paced inflow of new drugs and high tech pharma products have thrown up the challenges of monitoring ADR. Besides the broad based ADR monitoring, the programme would also focus on monitoring diseases like AIDS, TB, malaria which are more drug intensive. Paediatric pharmacovigilance is another thrust area. “Children differ significantly from adults in the way they absorb and metabolise drugs. Thus they may exhibit ADRs not seen in adult population, irrespective of duration of treatment. While there is an absolute dearth of child-specific medicines in the market, we need to closely monitor the ADR in children so  that safer and appropriate medications in proper doses can be formulated,” Associate Professor and Clinical Pharmacology unit in-charge of SCBMCH Dr Trupti Rekha Swain said.