The recently signed Memorandum of Cooperation between the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the National Cancer Institute has already received practical continuation. The first joint area of work of the parties was pharmacovigilance – a system for monitoring the safety of medicinal products after their use in real clinical practice.
The working meeting was attended by Deputy Directors of the SEC Dariia Pakhomova and Yevheniia Ishkova, the head and specialists of the pharmacovigilance monitoring department, representatives of the National Cancer Institute and doctors who work directly with oncology patients.
Cooperation with doctors is one of the key factors of an effective pharmacovigilance system. Patients with oncological diseases often receive complex and long-term treatment, so information about suspected adverse reactions reported by healthcare professionals is of particular value. Such data help accumulate an evidence base on the safety of medicinal products, timely identify new risks and, if necessary, adopt regulatory decisions to protect patients.
During the meeting, the Center's specialists presented the principles of the pharmacovigilance system in Ukraine and the capabilities of the Automated Information System for Pharmacovigilance (AISF). Particular attention was paid to practical issues of submitting reports on suspected adverse reactions, working with the reporting form, and the role of the physician in generating quality data on the safety of medicinal products.
The participants also agreed to make such working meetings regular. The next step will be to assess how the training influenced the practice of reporting suspected adverse reactions, as well as to identify further joint measures for the development of pharmacovigilance.
The Center's practical interaction with physicians who work with patients every day makes it possible not only to improve the pharmacovigilance system but also to enhance the safety of the use of medicinal products. This is exactly how the Center sees the implementation of partnerships – as consistent joint work that brings practical results for the healthcare system and Ukrainian patients.
