Regulatory agencies and national immunization programs align collaborative actions within the framework of the XVII International Pharmacovigilance Meeting of the Americas
Washington, DC, December 2022. After three years without in-person events due to the pandemic, representatives of the national regulatory authorities and the Health Ministries of 20 countries from the Region of the Americas met again, this time between December 5 to 9, in Bogotá, Colombia, to celebrate the 17th edition of the International Pharmacovigilance Meeting.
The activity was an opportunity to analyze the difficulties, lessons learned, and formulation of next steps and proposals for monitoring the safety of medicines and vaccines in emergency situations based on the experience with COVID-19. Additionally, it allowed aligning actions and promoting collaboration between regulatory authorities and immunization programs.
The XVII International Meeting on Pharmacovigilance had as its slogan "Building the pharmacovigilance of the future: learning from a world in a pandemic" and was organized by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance of Colombia, PAHO/WHO Colombia, the Government of Canada, the National University of Colombia, the Colombian Association of Pharmacovigilance, and the National College of Pharmaceutical Chemists of Colombia.
During a five-day event, the 60 international participants were able to attend almost 30 learning spaces, including workshops, expert panels, and conferences on topics related to pharmacovigilance, namely: basic MedDRA, standards and interoperability, signal detection, risk management plans evaluation, causality assessment of events supposedly attributable to vaccination or immunization against COVID-19, regulatory decisions related to COVID-19 vaccines, active pharmacovigilance methods, advances in risk-benefit modeling, interoperability and computer bridges, events adverse reactions to drugs used without evidence in the pandemic, information transparency, and tools for a report and good regulatory practices; among others.
Members of the participating PAHO team served as facilitators and conference speakers at the event.
The NRAs representatives ended the meeting with the election of El Salvador as the new coordinator of the Network of Pharmacovigilance Focal Points of the Americas. In addition, they selected Mexico as the next host of the meeting that will take place this 2023.
Links of interest:
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Nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. Information for health professionals
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Molnupiravir for the Treatment of COVID-19. Information for Patients
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Molnupiravir for the Treatment of COVID-19. Information for Health Professionals
