PUTRAJAYA, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Healthcare personnel are reminded to report adverse drug reaction to ensure user safety.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement today, safety monitoring measures are very important to ensure medicines in the market continue to be safe for use.
The ministry added that reporting side effects of drugs allows for the detection of drug safety risks and the need to update drug usage methods.
"In Malaysia, reports of the side effects of medicines are collected using the Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting System, National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA),” said the MOH in the statement.
“All reports will be evaluated and reviewed by the NPRA so that proper action can be taken including any regulatory actions, to ensure that users continue to benefit from the use of medications.”
The statement was issued by MOH in conjunction the #MedSafetyWeek campaign, Medicines Safety Week, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), from yesterday until Sunday (Nov 10).
The campaign, involving 101 organisations from 90 countries, carries the theme 'Preventing Side Effects' which emphasises the importance of using medication correctly to prevent side effects and highlights the need to report adverse effects.
In the statement, the MOH informed health workers, and even users themselves, that they can report side effects (of medication) to the NPRA via various channels.
According to the MOH, health workers can report through the Pharmacy Hospital Information System (PhIS) as well as by using online forms on the NRPA portal, or filling out the forms manually and sending them to the NPRA via email fv@npra@gov.my or by post.
Meanwhile, users can fill out Consumer Side Effect Reporting Form (ConSERF) on the NPRA website or send it manually using the email address or by post.
However, the MOH encourages users to discuss with healthcare personnel any side effects experienced before making a report.
-- BERNAMA
