The Food and Drugs Authority will participate in the global MedSafteyWeek Campaign from 6th to 12th November 2023 with about 80 medicines regulatory agencies and non-governmental organisations.
A press statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority, Delese Mimi Darko, said the campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of reporting side effects of medicines.
The theme for #MedSafetyWeek this year is ‘Who can report?’ with the focus on the key role that every patient/caregiver, doctor, nurse and pharmacist can contribute and report side effects of medicine.
It said the FDA has established a robust safety monitoring system to detect and analyse side effects of medicines and the purpose of the safety monitoring was to get more information about known side effects and find out about new ones.
“Continuously collecting and monitoring information from the reports received helps the FDA identify risks associated with medicines to enable the appropriate regulatory action to be taken to improve medicine Safety,” it added.
The FDA emphasises the importance of reporting side effects by using reporting forms available in healthcare facilities and community pharmacies designated as patient safety centres or by using the Med Safety App. It stated that all reports made to the FDA are thoroughly assessed to determine the first steps to be taken to protect public health and safety
It stated that the Med Safety App is an electronic reporting tool that is convenient and easy to use and it is freely available on the app store or Google Play store, adding that one may also report to any of the FDA regional offices nationwide.
The statement stated that over the year, the FDA has processed several reports in which patients, carers and health professionals played key roles in making the report available.
The Authority encouraged everyone to contribute to safer medicines by identifying and reporting their side effects.
Priscilla Osei-Wusu Nimako, ISD
