NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at strengthening medicine safety and improving monitoring of adverse drug reactions, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) on Tuesday signed agreements with pharmacy councils of Bihar, Maharashtra and Mizoram to expand pharmacovigilance and promote rational use of medicines.The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), signed at IPC headquarters in Ghaziabad, seek to improve adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting systems, expand ADR Monitoring Centres and increase awareness among pharmacists and healthcare professionals on safe and evidence-based use of medicines.Officials said the collaboration would strengthen the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI), under which healthcare professionals and patients report side-effects and safety concerns linked to medicines. The initiative also aims to improve medicine safety surveillance and encourage reporting of adverse drug reactions across hospitals and pharmacies in the participating states.Under the agreement, the state pharmacy councils and IPC will work to promote wider use of the National Formulary of India (NFI), a reference document designed to guide safe, effective and rational prescription and dispensing practices. Officials said efforts would also be made to establish the formulary as a standard reference in hospital pharmacies.The partnership will additionally focus on training programmes, workshops and continuing education for pharmacists on rational drug use, pharmacovigilance and patient safety.The MoUs were signed by IPC Secretary-cum-Scientific Director Dr V. Kalaiselvan with representatives of the Bihar, Maharashtra and Mizoram State Pharmacy Councils in the presence of senior health and regulatory experts.Officials said the collaboration was intended to strengthen patient safety systems and improve early detection of medicine-related risks through wider participation of pharmacists and healthcare institutions in drug safety monitoring.
