Commentary POLICY

Pharmacovigilance Programme of India

Duvvuru Ashok Kumar1*, Languluri Reddenna1, Shaik Ayub Basha1
1
Department of Pharm-D, P. Rami Reddy Memorial College of Pharmacy, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India-516003

Key words: Adverse drug reaction; India; Pharmacovigilance; Uppsala monitoring center

Abstract
Pharmacovigilance is defined as “the pharmacological science relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of
adverse effects, principally long term and short term adverse effects of medicines.” It is an important and integral part of clinical
research. India is the world’s second most populated country with over one billion potential drug consumers. Although, India is
participating in the Uppsala monitoring center program, its contribution to that database is relatively small. This problem is
essentially due to the absence of a robust ADR monitoring system and also the lack of awareness of reporting concepts among Indian
health care professionals. The specific aims of pharmacovigilance are to advance patient care and safety in relation to the use of
medicines and all medical and paramedical interventions, contribute to the assessment of benefit, harm, effectiveness, and risk of
medicines, promising their safe, rational, and more effective use, promote indulgent, education, and clinical training in
pharmacovigilance and its effective communication to the public. Pharmacovigilance methods must also be capable to designate
which patients are at risk of developing an adverse drug reaction. A suitably working pharmacovigilance system is important if
medicines are to be used prudently. It will be advantageous for healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities, pharmaceutical
companies and consumers to monitor medicines for risk.

Introduction
The world health organization (WHO) initiated a program for India is the world’s second most populated country with over
reporting all adverse reactions possessed by drugs. Further one billion potential drug consumers. Although, India is
awareness about adverse drug reactions has resulted in the participating in the Uppsala monitoring center program, its
emergence of the practice and science of pharmacovigilance.1 contribution to this database is relatively small. This problem
The word pharmacovigilance is derived from the Greek word is essentially due to the absence of a robust adverse drug
pharmacon meaning ‘drug’ and the Latin word vigilare reaction monitoring system and also the lack of awareness of
meaning ‘to keep awake or alert, to keep watch.’ reporting concepts among Indian health care professionals. In
Pharmacovigilance is defined as “the pharmacological science India, it is very important to focus the attention of the
relating to the recognition, assessment, understanding and medical community on the importance of adverse drug
prevention of adverse effects, particularly long term and reporting to ensure maximum benefits for public health and
short term adverse effects of medicines.” 2, 3 After discovery safety. For regulatory reporting purposes, if an event is
and pre-clinical phases, a drug typically undergoes trials in instinctively reported, even if the relationship is mysterious
human volunteers. Clinical trials are highly regulated and or unstated, it meets the definition of an adverse drug
closely monitored by the investigators and the manufacturing reaction.
company. It is a mandatory regulatory requirement to report
all the adverse events in a clinical trial setting in a given time An adverse event is any untoward medical occurrence in a
frame. In the clinical trial setting, “good clinical practice” has patient who is administered a medicinal product and which
moved pharmacovigilance from a reactive to a proactive doesn’t necessarily have a causal relationship with this
approach. A robust, well-defined system for monitoring treatment. Adverse drug reactions are noxious and
adverse events is in a place for evaluating the safety of the unintended responses to a medicinal product. A reaction, in
drugs. 4 Pharmacovigilance serves various roles such as contrast to an event, is characterized by the fact that a causal
identification, quantification and documentation of drug- relationship between the drug and the occurrence are
related problems which are responsible for drug-related supposed. 7, 8
injuries. 5, 6
A serious adverse event (SAE) is any untoward medical
Corresponding author: D. Ashok Kumar, Department of manifestation, that at any dose:
Pharm-D, P. Rami Reddy Memorial College of Pharmacy,
Utukur, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India-516003.  Results in death
E-mail: [email protected]

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 Is life-threatening (well-defined as an event in which Reactions (ADRs) in the country for safe-guarding Public
the subject was at risk of death at the time of the Health. In the year 2010, 22 ADR monitoring centres including
event) AIIMS, New Delhi was set up under this Programme. To
 Requires in-patient hospitalization or causes safeguard implementation of this programme in a more
prolongation of existing hospitalization effective way, the National Coordination Centre was shifted
 Results in persistent or significant from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New
disability/incapacity Delhi to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad,
 Is a congenital anomaly/birth defect Uttar Pradesh on 15th April 2011.
 Is an important medical event (defined as a medical
event(s) that may not be immediately life- Before registration and marketing of medicine in the country,
threatening or result in death or hospitalization but, its safety and efficacy experience is based chiefly on the use
based upon suitable medical & scientific judgment, of the medicine in clinical trials. These trials primarily detect
may require intervention to prevent one of the common adverse reactions. Some important reactions, such
serious outcomes as listed above). 9, 10 as those, which take a long time to develop, or those, which
occur rarely, may not be detected in clinical trials. In addition,
This review article provides a brief overview of the current the controlled conditions under which medicines are used in
situation and the future prospects of pharmacovigilance in clinical trials do not necessarily reflect the way they will be
India. used in practice. For a medicine to be considered safe, its
predictable benefits should be greater than any associated
The Pharmacovigilance exertion in India is organized by The risks of harmful reactions. So, in order to gain a complete
Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission and conducted by the safety profile of medicine, a continuous post-marketing
Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). The monitoring system i.e. pharmacovigilance is essential. In
main responsibility of the IPC is to maintain and develop the order to screen the safety of medicine, information from
pharmacovigilance database consisting of all suspected many sources is used for pharmacovigilance. These include
serious adverse reactions to medicines observed. Indian spontaneous (ADRs) reporting mechanism; medical literature
Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) is functioning as a National published worldwide, action taken by regulatory authorities
Coordination Centre (NCC) for Pharmacovigilance Programme in other countries, etc. Meanwhile there exist considerable
of India (PvPI). National Coordination Centre is operating social and economic consequences of adverse drug reactions
under the observation of steering committee which and the positive benefit/cost ratio of employing appropriate
recommends procedures and guidelines for regulatory risk management (there is a need to engage healthcare
interventions. The main duty of National Coordination Centre professionals and the public at large, in a well-structured
is to monitor all the adverse reactions of medicines being programme to build synergies for monitoring adverse drug
observed in the Indian population and to develop and reactions in the country). The purpose of the PvPI is to collate
maintain its own pharmacovigilance database. data, process and analyze it and use the inferences to
recommend regulatory interventions, besides communicating
risks to healthcare professionals and the public.
Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI)
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO),
Directorate General of Health Services under the aegis of Mission: Safeguard the health of the Indian population by
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India in ensuring that the benefits of use of medicine outweigh the
association with Indian Pharmacopeia commission, Ghaziabad risks associated with its use.
is initiating a nation-wide Pharmacovigilance Programme for
protecting the health of the patients by promising drug Vision: To improve patient safety and welfare in Indian
safety. The Programme shall be coordinated by the Indian population by monitoring the drug safety and thereby
Pharmacopeia commission, Ghaziabad as a National reducing the risk associated with use of medicines.
Coordinating Centre (NCC). The center will operate under the
supervision of a Steering Committee. Objectives

The Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) was started  To create a nation-wide system for patient safety
by the Government of India on 14th July 2010 with the All reporting
India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi as the  To identify and analyze the new signal (ADR) from
National Coordination Centre for monitoring Adverse Drug the reported cases

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 To analyses the benefit - risk ratio of marketed  To make ADR reporting mandatory for healthcare
medications professionals
 To generate the evidence based information on
safety of medicines Effective communication channels are the key to a successful
 To support regulatory agencies in the decision- running of PvPI. The Indian pharmacopoeia commission was
making process on use of medications summarized in Figure 1. Program communications is
 To communicate the safety information on use of described in Figure 2 and ADR monitoring centers are
medicines to various stakeholders to minimize the displayed in Figure 3. The functions of the ADR monitoring
risk center are shown in Figure 4 with regional resources for
 To emerge as a national center of excellence for training in India summarized in figure 5. The process of
pharmacovigilance activities collection, analysis and evaluation of ADRs are described in
 To collaborate with other national centers for the Figure 6.
exchange of information and data management
 To provide training and consultancy support to other Causes of failure of implementation of pharmacovigilance in
national pharmacovigilance centers located across India
globe11 Many new drugs are being introduced in the country, so
there is a need to improve the pharmacovigilance system in
Implementation of PvPI order to protect the Indian population from potential harm
IPC assumed the need for establishing local hospital based that may be caused by some of the new drugs. However,
centers across the nation for the better patient safety. It was there are numerous issues and problems that have prevented
significant to monitor both the known and previously building a robust pharmacovigilance system, which are
unknown side effects of medicines in order to determine any described below:
new information available in relation to their safety profile. In
an enormous country like India with a population of over 1.2 1. Pharmacovigilance systems are not well-funded and
billion and with vast ethnic variability, different disease systematized for a vast country like India to serve
prevalence patterns, practice of different systems of patients and the public.
medicines, different socioeconomic status, it was imperative 2. The data obtained to date in the zonal centers from
to have a standardized and robust pharmacovigilance and various peripheral centers is often poor and not
drug safety monitoring programme for the nation. well-analyzed. There is inadequate research on ADRs
in India, so the exact incidence of specific ADRs is
Short term goals unknown.
3. Involvement of healthcare professionals (both in
 To develop and implement pharmacovigilance rural areas and urban cities and hospitals) and
system in India knowledge and motivation for pharmacovigilance is
 To enroll, initially, all MCI approved medical colleges negligible. There little encouragement from the
in the program covering north, south, east and west department of health to provide more training and
of India create more awareness amongst them for better
 To encourage healthcare professionals in reporting reporting.
of adverse reaction to drugs, vaccines, medical 4. In India, there are several consumers' groups who
devices and biological products encourage patients to report any adverse reactions
 Collection of case reports and data encountered by them, although there is no
information for patients to report ADRs directly to
the regulatory authority.
Long term goals

Pharmacovigilance Methods
 To expand the pharmacovigilance programme to all
hospitals (govt. & private) and centers of public
health programs located across India Passive surveillance:
 To develop and implement electronic reporting
system (e-reporting) • encompasses all spontaneous AEFI reporting
 To develop reporting culture amongst healthcare • from immunisation service providers / hospitals /
professionals patients

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• up to next levels: state/territory then national (TGA) merit further evaluation. However, this tool does not quantify
and then global the magnitude of risk, and caution should be exercised when
comparing medicines. Further, when using data mining
Active surveillance: techniques, consideration should be given to the threshold
established for detecting signals, since this will have
• primarily used for characterization of the AEFI profile, implications for the sensitivity and specificity of the method
rates and risk factors (a high threshold is associated with high specificity and low
• logistical and resource constraints limit wide sensitivity). Confounding factors that influence reporting of
application spontaneous adverse events are not removed from data
• only for selected AEFI at selected institutions (sentinel) mining. The results of data mining should thus be interpreted
sites with the knowledge of the weaknesses of the spontaneous
• can also be carried out in the community setting (e.g. reporting system and, more specifically, the large differences
cohort event monitoring) in the ADR reporting rate for different medicines and the
many potential biases inherent in spontaneous reporting. All
signals should be evaluated while recognizing the possibility
Ad hoc studies:
of false-positives. In addition, the absence of a signal does not
mean that a problem does not exist.
• epidemiological studies (e.g. cohort study, case-control
study, case series studies)
b) Case series
• focus on selected vaccine safety concerns (e.g. testing
A series of case-reports can deliver signs of an association
causality hypotheses)
between a medicine and an adverse event, but they are
• retrospective or prospective
normally more valuable for producing theories than for
confirming a relationship between medicine exposure and
I. Passive surveillance
outcome. 21, 22

a) Spontaneous reports
c) Stimulated reporting
A spontaneous report is a voluntary communication by
A number of methods have been used to reassure and
healthcare professionals or consumers to a company,
simplify reporting by health professionals in definite
regulatory authority or other organization that defines one or
circumstances for new products or for partial time periods. 23
more adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in a patient who was
Such systems comprise on-line reporting of adverse events
given one or more medicinal products and that does not
and methodical motivation of reporting of adverse events
originate from a study or any structured data collection
based on a pre-designed method. While these methods have
scheme. 12 It plays a key role in the identification of safety
been shown to advance reporting, they are not invulnerable
signals once a medicine is marketed. In various occurrences,
to the confines of passive surveillance, particularly
spontaneous reports can vigilant a company to rare adverse
discriminating reporting and imperfect information. This
events that were not noticed in earlier clinical trials or other
should be considered as a procedure of spontaneous event
pre-marketing studies. It can also deliver important
reporting, and thus data acquired from stimulated reporting
information on at-risk groups, risk factors and clinical features
cannot be used to make precise incidence rates, but reporting
of known serious ADRs. 13-16
rates can be projected.

Newly, systematic methods for the recognition of safety II) Active surveillance
signals from spontaneous reports have begun to be used.
Active surveillance, in contrast to passive surveillance,
Several of these methods are static in development and their
pursues to determine the particular number of adverse
utility for identifying safety signals is being assessed. These
events through a constant pre-organized process. 24 In
methods include the calculation of the proportional reporting
common, it is more achievable to acquire wide-ranging data
ratio, as well as the use of Bayesian and other techniques for
on discrete adverse event reports through an active
signal detection. 17-19 Data mining techniques have also been
surveillance system than through a passive reporting system.
used to examine medicine-medicine interactions 20, but these
techniques should always be used in conjunction with, and
a) Sentinel sites
not in place of, analyses of single case-reports. Data mining
Active surveillance can be attained by revising medical
techniques facilitate the evaluation of spontaneous reports
records or questioning patients and/or physicians in a section
by using statistical methods to detect potential signals that
of sentinel sites to guarantee that comprehensive and precise
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data on reported adverse events are collected from these followed over time and included in a cohort study to collect
sites. The selected sites can deliver information, such as data data on adverse events using standardized questionnaires.
from specific patient subgroups, which would not be Single cohort studies can quantity incidence, but, without a
accessible in a passive spontaneous reporting system. 25 The comparison group, cannot deliver proof of association. This
major weaknesses of sentinel sites comprise difficulties with type of registry can be very valuable when examining the
selection bias, small numbers of patients and augmented safety of an orphan medicine indicated for a specific
costs. Active surveillance with sentinel sites is most effective condition. Customary epidemiological methods are a key
for those medicines used primarily in institutional settings constituent in the evaluation of adverse events. There are
such as hospitals, nursing homes and haemodialysis centers. numerous of observational study designs that are valuable in
Institutional settings may use certain medicinal products validating signals from spontaneous reports, case series or
more commonly and can deliver an arrangement for medicine event monitoring. The most imperative of these
enthusiastic reporting. Intensive monitoring of sentinel sites designs is cross-sectional studies, case-control studies and
can also be supportive in recognizing risks among patients cohort studies. 33, 34
taking orphan medicines.
d) Cross-sectional study (survey)
b) Medicine event monitoring Data collected on inhabitants of patients during a specified
This is a process of active Pharmacovigilance surveillance. interval of time, regardless of exposure or disease status
Studies using this process are cohort-based and prospective constitute a cross-sectional study. These types of studies are
and observational. For medication event monitoring, patients principally used to collect data for surveys or for ecological
can be acknowledged from electronic or automated health analyses. The major disadvantage of cross-sectional studies is
insurance claims. A single prescription or a series might be that the temporal relationship between exposure and
composed over the period of monitoring. A follow-up outcome cannot be straight addressed. These studies are
questionnaire can then be sent to each prescribing physician paramount used to scrutinize the prevalence of a disease at
or patient at pre-specified intervals to acquire outcome data. one time point or to inspect trends over time, when data for
Requests for data on patient demographics, indication for serial time points can be captured. These studies can also be
treatment, duration of therapy, dosage, clinical events, used to observe the crude relationship between exposure
reasons for termination and applicable past history can be and outcome in ecological analyses. Cross-sectional studies
involved in the questionnaires. 26-30 The restrictions of are utmost valuable when exposures do not change over
medicine event monitoring can comprise the poor physician time.
and patient reply rates. 31, 32
e) Case-control study
c) Registries In a case-control study, cases of disease (or events) are
A registry is a list of patients presenting with the identical recognized. Controls, or patients in whom the disease or
representative(s). This representative can be a disease event of interest has not happened, are then carefully chosen
(disease registry) or a specific exposure (medicine registry). from the source population that gave rise to the cases. The
Both types of registrations, which vary only by the type of controls should be selected in such a way that the prevalence
patient data of interest, can gather a cordless of information of exposure among the controls exemplifies the prevalence of
using standardized questionnaires in a prospective fashion. exposure in the source population. The exposure status of the
Disease registries, such as registries for blood dyscrasias, two groups is then paralleled using the odds ratio, which is an
severe cutaneous reactions, or congenital malformations can estimate of the relative risk of disease in the two groups.
help to gather data on medicine exposure and other factors Patients can be acknowledged from an existing database or
related to a clinical condition. A disease registry might also be using data collected unambiguously for the purpose of the
used as a veil for a case control study associating the study. If safety data is sought for special populations, the
medicine exposure of cases recognized from the registry with cases and controls can be stratified according to the
controls selected either from patients with another condition population of interest. For rare adverse events, prevailing
within the registry, or from patients outside the registry. large population-based databases are a useful and efficient
means of providing the necessary data on medicine exposure
Exposure (medicine) registries address populations exposed and medical outcome relatively quickly. Case-control studies
to the medicines of interest to govern if a medicine has a are predominantly useful when the goal is to examine
distinct influence on this group of patients. Some exposure whether there is a relationship between a medicine (or
(medicine) registries address drug exposures in specific medicines) and one specific rare adverse event, as well as to
populations, such as pregnant women. Patients can be identify risk factors for adverse events. Risk factors can

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include conditions, such as renal and hepatic dysfunction, instruction can put patients at an increased risk of adverse
which might modify the relationship between the medicine events. Moreover, based on the pharmacological properties
exposure and the adverse event. Under particular conditions, and the predictable use of the medicine in general practice,
a case-control study can deliver the complete incidence rate conducting specific studies to scrutinize potential medicine-
of the event. medicine interactions and food-medicine interactions might
be entitled to. These studies can comprise population
f) Cohort study pharmacokinetics studies and medicine concentration
In a cohort study, a population at risk for the disease (or monitoring in patients and normal volunteers. One drawback
event) is monitored over time to record the occurrence of the of this method is that the outcome measure might be too
disease (or event). Information on exposure status is shortened and this might have an influence on the quality
accessible during the follow-up period for each patient. A and eventual usefulness of the results of the trial. Large,
patient might be exposed to a medicine at one time during simplified trials are similarly resource-intensive.
follow-up, but not exposed at another time. Meanwhile the
population exposure during follow-up is acknowledged, Descriptive studies
incidence rates can be calculated. In many cohort studies Descriptive studies are a vital component of
concerning medicine exposure, appraisal cohorts of interest Pharmacovigilance, even though not for the recognition or
are selected on the basis of medicine use and monitored over authentication of adverse events related to medicine
time. Cohort studies are useful when there is a requisite to exposures. These studies are principally used to acquire the
know the incidence rates of adverse events in addition to the circumstantial rate of outcome events and/or to inaugurate
relative risks. Multiple adverse events can also be scrutinized the prevalence of the use of medicines in specified
using the similar data source in a cohort study. Conversely, it populations.
can be problematic to recruit adequate numbers of patients
who are exposed to the medicine of interest or to study very a) Natural history of disease
rare outcomes. Similar to case-control studies, patients in The discipline of epidemiology initially concentrated on the
cohort studies can be recognized from large automated natural history of disease, including the features of diseased
databases or from data collected precisely for the study at patients and the dissemination of disease, in particular
hand. In addition, cohort studies can be used to scrutinize populations, as well as appraising the incidence and
safety issues in special populations through oversampling of prevalence of possible outcomes of interest. These outcomes
these patients or by stratifying the cohort if adequate of interest currently comprise a narrative of disease
numbers of patients are included. There are numerous treatment outlines and adverse events. Studies that
automated databases obtainable for scrutinize precise facts of adverse events, such as the
pharmacoepidemiological studies.35, 36, 37 They consist of contextual incidence rate of, or risk factors for, the adverse
databases that contain automated medical records or event of interest, can assist in placing spontaneous reports
automated accounting/billing systems. Databases that are into viewpoint. 38
fashioned from accounting/billing systems might be
connected to pharmacy claims and medical claims databases. b) Medicine utilization study
These datasets may contain millions of patients. Medicine utilization studies (DUS) define how a medicine is
Subsequently, they are fashioned for administrative or billing marketed, prescribed and used in a population, and how
purposes; they might not have all the detailed and precise these factors affect outcomes (including clinical, social and
information needed for some research, such as authenticated economic outcomes). 39These studies deliver data on definite
diagnostic information or laboratory data. Even though populations, such as the elderly, children, or patients with
medical records can be used to establish and authenticate hepatic or renal dysfunction, habitually stratified by age, sex,
test results and medical diagnoses, one should know about concomitant medication and other characteristics. It can be
the privacy and privacy regulations that apply to patient used to define if a product is being used in these populations.
medical records. It has been used to define the effect of regulatory actions and
media courtesy on the use of medicines, as well as to improve
g) Targeted clinical investigations evaluations of the economic burden of the cost of medicines.
When significant risks are identified from pre-approval clinical It can also be used to scrutinize the relationship between
trials, further clinical studies might be called in to evaluate optional and definite clinical practice. These studies can help
the mechanism of action for the adverse reaction. In some to govern whether a medicine has the probable for abuse by
instances, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic studies inspecting whether patients are taking mounting doses or
might be conducted to define whether a particular dosing whether there is an indication of incorrect duplication

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prescribing. The main limitations of these studies can information is a chief goal of Pharmacovigilance.
comprise an absence of clinical outcome data or information Pharmacovigilance methods must be capable to designate
on the indication for use of a product. which patients are at risk from medication use. A suitably
working Pharmacovigilance system is important if medicines
Future aspects of pharmacovigilance in India are to be used prudently. It will be advantageous for
A suitably working pharmacovigilance system is vital if healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities,
medicines are to be used safely. It will advantage all parties pharmaceutical companies and consumers to monitor
including healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities, medicines for risk.
pharmaceutical companies and the consumers. It aids
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reactions: An example with diuretics and non- 36. Shakir SAW. PEM in the UK. In: Mann RD, Andrews
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. European Journal EB, eds. Pharmacovigilance Chichester, John Wiley
of Clinical Pharmacology, 2000, 56:733-738. and Sons, 2002:333-344.
21. Venning GR. Identification of adverse reactions to 37. Mackay FJ. Post-marketing studies. The work of the
new drugs. III: Alerting processes and early warning Drug Safety Research Unit. Drug Safety, 1998,
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22. Edwards IR. The management of adverse drug 38. Shakir SAW. PEM in the UK. In: Mann RD, Andrews
reactions: from diagnosis to signal. Thérapie, 2001, EB, eds. Pharmacovigilance Chichester, John Wiley
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23. 1Strom BL (ed.) Pharmacoepidemiology, 3rd ed. New 39. Strom BL (ed.) Pharmacoepidemiology, 3rd ed. New
York, NY, John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, 2002. York, NY, John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, 2002.
24. Mitchell AA, Van Bennekom CM, Louik C. A 40. P. Biswas, A. K. Biswas Setting standards for
pregnancy-prevention program in women of proactive pharmacovigilance in India: The way
childbearing age receiving isotretinoin. New England forward. Indian J Pharmacol, 2007.39:124-128.
Journal of Medicine, 1995, 333:101-106. 41. The Erice Declaration on Communicating
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John Wiley & Sons, 2002:345-362.

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Figure 1- Indian pharmacopoeia commission

The main functions are to maintain the quality of medicines and ensure the safety of medicines.

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Figure 2- Pharmacovigilance programme communications

This figure explains the process of communication from health care professionals
to the adverse drug reaction monitoring centers, zonal offices and to the national coordinating center.

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Figure 3- ADR monitoring centers

Adverse drug reaction monitoring centers are established in 24 states and union territories.
Sixty adverse drug reaction monitoring centers established in phase-I
Thirty adverse drug reaction monitoring centers established in phase-II
Adverse drug reaction monitoring centers are divided into north, east, west and south zones.

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Figure 4- ADR monitoring center functions

This figure explains the various responsibilities of their respective adverse drug reaction monitoring centers.

Figure 5- Regional resource centers for training

There are four regional centers for the purpose of training and
technical support under national coordinating center.

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Figure 6- Collection, analysis and evaluation of ADRs

This figure explains the flow of adverse drug reaction reporting

to the adverse drug reaction monitoring centers.

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