Assam: Advanced level training on Pharmacovigilance for Healthcare Professionals of Northeast India inaugurated

Rangia: A two-day advanced level training programme on Pharmacovigilance for Healthcare Professionals of Northeast India was inaugurated by Dr B B Borthakur, Director of Dr. Bhubaneswar Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), Guwahati, in presence of Dr. USN Murty, Director NIPER Guwahati on Friday at NIPER, Guwahati. The aim of the two-day training programme is to develop the skills among healthcare professionals working in Northeast India in all aspects of Pharmacovigilance activities related to academia, industry, and regulatory perspectives.

The training programme was organized in association with International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP), South Asia Chapter and is sponsored by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India under its Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Promotion and Development Scheme (PMPDS). Inaugurating the programme as the chief guest, Dr. Borthakur highlighted the importance of monitoring and reporting Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) under Pharmacovigilance, especially among the cancer patients. He further appreciated the efforts of NIPER Guwahati for taking active initiatives to create awareness on Pharmacovigilance among healthcare professionals and people in northeast India.

Earlier, Dr. USN Murty, Director, NIPER Guwahati, welcomed the gathering and briefed on the objectives of the training programme. He shared that under-reporting of the Adverse Drug Reactions is a concern especially in Northeast India, which otherwise can supplement to even better treatment of patients. He said that there is a huge imbalance between ADR centres and hospitals and medical colleges in Assam.

Currently Assam has only five Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centres (AMC) working against all the government hospitals and medical colleges. NIPER, Guwahati is eager to play its role in ensuring a greater number of reporting on Adverse Drug Reactions from Northeast.  He further informed that, NIPER Guwahati was identified as one of the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centres (AMC) in February 2021 under the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC). The institute has actively monitored and reported the adverse drug reactions to Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and became a top reporting centre in northeast India with 690 reports.

The two-day training programme will feature a number of experts from government, academia and industry speaking on topics related to Pharmacovigilance and its necessity. They are Prof. Moin Don, Adjunct Professor from Jamia Hamdard and CEO & Founder of PVCON Consulting, Dr. Manoj Swaminathan, Director, Safety & Pharmacovigilance, Biorasi Clinical Services, Dr. Suparna Chatterjee, Professor, Dr. Vijit Aggarwal, Research Scientist from Pharmaco vigilance Programme of India (PvPI), Dr. Jai Prakash from Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI), and Dr. Phulen Sharma from AIIMS Guwahati. More than 190 faculty members and students from various institutes in northeast India attended the inauguration programme.

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