Millions of people worldwide use medicines for various conditions and diseases, which can sometimes cause side effects in some patients. However, the risk of side effects and their complications is significantly reduced with the correct use of medicines. Today marks the start of the 9th international public awareness week on the importance of reporting adverse reactions and the #MedSafetyWeek campaign, annually organized by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre, WHO’s support centre for drug safety monitoring.
This year’s theme focuses on the proper use of medications to prevent side effects and reporting side effects if they occur.
The safety of medicines is not only in the hands of scientists and medical professionals since the patient, as the medicine user, also plays a key role. If the patient suspects a side effect, we advise him to contact his doctor, pharmacist or other healthcare professional who can help and advise him, and at the same time, report the side effect to the competent authority. The patient can also report himself via the online form or the smartphone application, both available here. The adverse reaction is thus not ignored.
5 questions for the patient and healthcare professional to help prevent side effects