REPORT SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDICINES – BOMRA

Every report to the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BoMRA) helps to improve the safety of medicines for all patients

People are encouraged to report suspected side effects of medicines as part of the global #MedSafetyWeek social media campaign

Launched today by BoMRA, the seventh annual #MedSafetyWeek is running until 13 November to encourage everyone to report suspected side effects of medicines. This year’s global campaign involves medicines regulators from 81 countries and focuses on the key role of every healthcare professional, patient, and carer who reports a suspected side effect and contributes to using medicines safely.

All medicines may cause side effects in some patients, so there are steps in place to continuously monitor their safety after they are placed on the market. The purpose of safety monitoring is to gain more information about known side effects and find out about new ones. Regulators operate systems to detect and analyse those side effects and prevent harm to future patients.

The mechanisms run by BoMRA collects, organises, and investigates reports of suspected side effects. Since it was created, it has helped identify several safety issues which were not previously recognised as being linked to a particular medicine until BoMRA receives information from reports.

By reporting suspected side effects to the Authority you are actively participating in identifying emerging safety issues, so that BoMRA can take action when necessary and protect you and others from harm.

Manager Pharmacovigilance Mr Lebogang Koitsiwe says:

“Every report made by a patient, a healthcare professional, or a carer plays a key role in gaining more knowledge about the benefits and risks of medicines in clinical use and allows action to be taken to minimise risks.

“Reporting suspected side effects to the Authority helps to improve the safety of medicines for all patients and, in some cases, can result in better tailored prescribing advice, which can improve patient outcomes.

“If you or a patient you are supporting experience a side effect with a medicine, make sure to report it to us promptly.”

The public and healthcare professionals can report suspected side effects to BoMRA. You can submit a report in many ways:

·         MedSafety APP

·         E-Reporting on the BoMRA Website

·         Paper based reporting

National medicines regulators from 81 countries across the globe and their stakeholders will be taking part in this international campaign led by Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring. The campaign is supported by members of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA). The #MedSafetyWeek 2022 project team consists of representatives from the following organisations working collaboratively: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (UK) as co-lead, Health Products Regulatory Authority (Ireland), International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP) Egypt Chapter, and Colombian Pharmacovigilance Association.

Patients are advised to contact a healthcare professional if they are worried about their health.