Govt directs NABH hospitals to list out drugs' side effects

New Delhi: In an attempt to make a robust mechanism for patient safety, the government has decided to bring out a comprehensive study to find out the side effects of drugs on patients.

Given that most of the drugs are tested during the course of their clinical trials in foreign countries, where the atmospheric conditions are different from India, the government has directed all NABH hospitals to prepare a data bank of drugs causing side effects to patients during treatment.

According to Health Ministry officials, the objective behind the move is to take up post-marketing surveillance of drugs that would help concerned agencies in monitoring the misuse of drugs and ensuring the safety of patients.

The initiative, which has been taken to implement the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI), would be jointly undertaken by Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) and Quality Council of India (QCI). The direction in this regard has come to develop a protocol for raising standards of patient safety through post-marketing surveillance of drugs and medical devices with the help of artificial intelligence.

During a discussion with Millennium Post, a senior official said, "Usually we take a call to introduce a new drug on the basis of the results of clinical trials and when a particular drug get into treatment chain its side effects vary from what it was reported. It may vary due to clinical trials conducted in different climatic zones. The move is to monitor the side effects of a particular drug after its being sold to patients."

"The IPC is also planning to work with agencies having expertise in this sector to develop a system for gathering, analysing and collating adverse drug reaction data through a new integrated system of PV for patient safety," the official said, adding that under the initiative, healthcare professionals would be provided training to track the track adverse drug reactions from hospitals.