Aligarh: The Department of Pharmacology in JN Medical College at Aligarh Muslim University, in collaboration with the Society of Pharmacology of India launched an awareness programme at the College of Nursing to mark the 3rd National Pharmacovigilance Week from September 17-23, being observed by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission under the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India, to boosting public confidence in Pharmacovigilance and to foster a culture of patient centricity and safety in pharmaceutical industry across the nation.

At present, the Pharmacovigilance programme of India oversees a network of 760 Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centres across the country.

Addressing the nursing teachers and students, the General Secretary, SOPI, Prof. Syed Ziaur Rahman urged them to develop an insight into the effects of chemical salt of different drugs and consider how to dilute them. He told them to increase awareness about the code of ethics, promulgated in this regard by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Later, a panel discussion was organized as a part of National Pharmacovigilance Awareness Week to gain a deeper understanding of both the National Pharmacovigilance Programme of India and the Materovigilance Programme of India.

Welcoming the panellists, Prof. Farha Azmi, Principal, the College of Nursing said that the objective of the programme is to create awareness among Nursing teachers and students regarding adverse drug reactions to protect patients from the ill effects of various medicines.

Prof Syed Ziaur Rahman and Dr Irfan Ahmad Khan, Department of Pharmacology were among the panelists, who focused on various types of drugs that were made for some particular purpose but the same are being used for purposes, for example, Minoxidil, which was made for hypertension but used in baldness.

An open discussion was held among the participants to discuss various aspects of drugs and their chemical salt.

In the meantime, an ADR-related awareness programme was organized by the Department of Pharmacology for school students at the Ahmadi School for Visually Challenged on September 19 under the theme “Boosting Public Confidence in Pharmacovigilance”.

Prof. Farida Ahmad, Department of Pharmacology, made a PowerPoint presentation to sensitize the school children about the side effects of medicines and vaccines.

She said any medicine should be taken only on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner and one should immediately report if he or she develops any kind of uneasiness after taking the medicine.