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Pacific Island Pharmacovigilance: The Need for a Different Approach

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Abstract

Many Pacific Island countries (PICs) are recipients of funding support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). However, most of these countries cannot be expected to meet Global Fund and World Health Organization (WHO) minimum requirements for a functioning pharmacovigilance (PV) system. We argue that a different approach is required to move PV forward in such countries. Although the long-term aim is to build adequate national PV capacity, we propose an approach in which resources are focused initially towards ensuring a proper system for the reporting of “problems with medicines” such as substandard and counterfeit products. The limited health system resources in these countries require that PV will be supported by some of the organizations also giving funding aid for the supply of medicines.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 253 La Perouse Street, Red Hill, ACT, 2603, Australia

    John McEwen

  2. Division of Communicable Diseases, Regional Office for the Western Pacific, World Health Organization, Manila, Philippines

    Lasse S. Vestergaard

  3. Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Lasse S. Vestergaard

  4. Centre for Medical Parasitology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Lasse S. Vestergaard

  5. East Deep Creek, QLD, 4570, Australia

    Amanda L. C. Sanburg

Authors
  1. John McEwen
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  2. Lasse S. Vestergaard
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  3. Amanda L. C. Sanburg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John McEwen.

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The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Current Opinion.

Funding

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this Current Opinion.

Conflict of interest

John McEwen advised the Ministry of Health, Vanuatu about PV (2011). Lasse S. Vestergaard has served as a Medical Officer for the WHO in Vanuatu, 2009–2012, and for the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in the Philippines, 2012–2015. Amanda Sanburg served as a Principal Pharmacist at the Ministry of Health in Vanuatu, 2003–2006 and 2012–2014. She is currently a contracted adviser to the current principal pharmacist. The authors have no other competing interests.

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McEwen, J., Vestergaard, L.S. & Sanburg, A.L.C. Pacific Island Pharmacovigilance: The Need for a Different Approach. Drug Saf 39, 891–894 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-016-0439-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-016-0439-4

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