Medication errors are a leading cause of patient harm globally. WHO launched the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, with the objective of preventing severe medication related patient harm globally. This publication is one of t...he documents in the WHO Technical Series on “Medication Safety Solutions” that the WHO is publishing, to address important aspects pertaining to medication safety.
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This course is based on the Manual on Safety in Administering Medicines for Neglected Tropical Diseases which provides practical tools, training modules and jobs aids to further improve the planning..., preparation, and monitoring of safe administration of NTD medicines.
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Therapeutics Information and Pharmacovigilance Centre | TIPC
This manual summarizes key issues related to the safety of NTD medicines and their administration, with a focus on essential medicines used in mass... drug administration (MDA), also called preventive chemotherapy. It can be used as a standalone reference manual, but is intended to be used in conjunction with the accompanying training modules, which provide practical instruction, and the aide-mémoires. Versions of the aide-mémoires and training modules are available respectively for both (i) programme managers and district-level health officials and (ii) community drug distributors and community health workers
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Made under Section 5 (c) of the Tanzania Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 2003 | Second Edition
"Some of the problems with our current drug policies stem from the fact that these policies have been largely bifurcated between two different and often contradictory approaches. One treats drug use as a crime that cannot be tolerated and should be punished; the other views addiction as a chronic re...lapsing health or behavioral condition requiring ongoing treatment and support. Neither of these views is all encompassing—it should be recognized that there are patterns of drug use that do not result in significant harm or health problems and therefore require no intervention. The public health approach presented here takes the view that our focus should be on the harm caused by drug use and the harm caused by our policy responses to it. We have focused specifically on illicit drugs, not because they are by themselves more harmful (in fact, tobacco causes more morbidity and mortality than any illicit drug), but because it has become increasingly clear that our current policies to manage illicit drugs are failing."
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This is a detailed manual giving a step by step approach to undertaking the pharmacovigilance of antiretrovirals. It is intended to be a source of practical advice for Pharmacovigilance Centres and health professionals involved in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes. A number of WHO publica...tions are available that provide a background to pharmacovigilance and, as far as possible, that material will not be repeated here. Health officials, planners, the staff of Pharmacovigilance Centres, public health teams and all health workers should become familiar with these publications, which are: • Safety of Medicines: A guide to detecting and reporting adverse drug reactions
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This guideline is intended to provide recommendations to applicants wishing to submit applications for the registration of medicines. It represents the Medicines Control Council’s current thinking... on the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines.
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There is strong demand for alternatives to pharmaceuticals for a variety of common illnesses due to concerns of safety, efficacy, and a desire for more “natural” products. Despite this growing interest, “conventional” healthcare providers ma...y have little to no knowledge about herbal medicines, which is further compounded by the sometimes misleading information in the media and on the internet. This course provides the necessary background for providers to begin to incorporate herbal medicines into their practice, particularly in regards to their therapeutic properties, efficacy (or lack thereof), and safety concerns, including quality control and potential adverse effects
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The Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide (2011) was developed to assist in the teaching of patient safety in universities and schools in the fields of dentistry, ...-to-highlight medbox">medicine, midwifery, nursing and pharmacy. It also supports the on-going training of all health care professionals.
The Curriculum Guide is comprised of two parts. Part A is a teachers’ guide designed to introduce patient safety concepts to educators. It relates to building capacity for patient safety education, programme planning and design of the courses. Part B provides all-inclusive, ready-to-teach, topic-based patient safety courses that can be used as a whole, or on a per topic basis. There are 11 patient safety topics, each designed to feature a variety of ideas and methods for patient safety learning. Universities are encouraged to start with Part A which provides comprehensive advice on how to introduce and build patient safety courses.
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The purpose of these guidelines is to help health workers to participate in the process of continuous surveillance of safety and efficacy of the pharmaceutical products which are used in clinical practice, thus help to achieve the ultimate goal to m...ake safer and more effective treatment available to patients. This guideline addresses specifically the issues on what to report, why to report, when to report, where to report and how to report.
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Reporting system for the general public - This document aims to provide practical guidelines on how to set up national systems for consumers to report adverse reactions to medicines. The purpose is to help countries set up a well-organized and effec...tive consumer reporting system within their pharmacovigilance centre. Throughout this document, the phrase “consumer reporting” is used to refer to reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) by the general public.
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Essential Medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy, safety and comparativ...e cost-effectiveness. This edition of the Essential Medicines List (EML) 2017 for Ghana has been derived from its companion Standard Treatment Guidelines 2017 to ensure harmony in treatment, procurement and re-imbursements. The medicines listed have been coded according to the Health Commodity
Codes Catalogue of the Ministry of Health (2008) and their levels of use, based on the type of health facility, including midwifery practice, have been indicated.
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Report of the 23rd WHO Expert Committee on the selection and use of essential medicines
This executive summary reports the recommendations made by the Expert Committee for the 2021 update of the WHO Model List of Essential ...-highlight medbox">Medicines (EML) and the Model List of Essential Medicine for Children (EMLc).
The 23rd meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines was coordinated from Geneva, Switzerland, and held virtually from 21 June to 2 July 2021. The Committee considered 88 applications proposing additions, changes and deletions of medicines, medicine classes and formulation on the Model Lists of Essential Medicines. The Committee evaluated the scientific evidence for comparative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of the medicines in question. The Committee also considered a review of the therapeutic alternatives for medicines on the Model Lists, and update to the AWaRe classification of antibiotics, and reviews and reports relevant to the selection and use of essential medicines.
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PQM conducted an assessment of the medicine quality assurance and quality control systems in Rwanda during November 9-13, 2009. Medicine quality assurance remains to be developed in Rwanda: the coun...try has neither a medicine regulatory authority (MRA) nor a national medicine quality control laboratory – the two key institutions to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of medicines. The MOH Pharmacy Taskforce (PTF) is to be commended however for successfully controlling the pharmaceutical market to the extent that there is no informal medicines market in Rwanda. Based on its findings, the assessment team expects Rwanda to be able to make great strides in evidence-based medicines quality assurance in the short to medium term, provided it receives adequate technical assistance and financial support.
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Long Acting Muscarinic Antagonists (LAMA) such as tiotropium and glycopyrronium are used in the management of COPD1. They have been shown to improve lung function, quality of life and exercise tolerance. They have also been associated with reduced COPD-related exacerbations, associated hospitalisati...ons and duration of hospital stay. Both the South African Thoracic Society (SATS) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), guidelines recommend the use of long acting anticholinergic drugs (or long acting beta agonists) in moderate to very severe disease as defined by lung function (FEV1). The most up to date guideline, utilizing the GRADE methodology (European Respiratory Society guidelines of 2017), confirms their superiority over long acting β agonists (LABA) as monotherapy for COPD in that LAMA's have demonstrated greater efficacy in terms of exacerbation reduction, with similar safety profile.2 These recommnedations are supported by published peer-reviewed
evidence including individual papers and Cochrane reviews.
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The 23rd meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines was coordinated from Geneva, Switzerland, and held virtually from 21 June to 2 July 2021. The Committee considered 88 applications proposing additions, changes ...and deletions of medicines, medicine classes and formulations on the Model Lists of Essential Medicines. The Committee evaluated the scientific evidence for comparative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of the medicines in question. The Committee also considered a review of the therapeutic alternatives for medicines on the Model Lists, and update to the AWaRe classification of antibiotics, and reviews and reports relevant to the selection and use of essential medicines.
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WHO Regional Publications, Western Pacific Series No. 23
Reports the findings and recommendations of a working group convened to prepare guidelines for the use of herbal medicines in Western Pacific countries. Addressed to national health autho...rities, the report responds to the widespread use of herbal medicine in this part of the world and the corresponding need for mechanisms to ensure that these products are safe and effective, yet remain broadly accessible. With this need in mind, the report sets out a comprehensive framework for developing national policies designed to control the safety, efficacy, and quality of herbal medicines, manufacturing practices, product registration, and labelling, marketing, and trade.
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