Food and Drug Authority’s awareness drive

RIYADH: The Saudi Food and Drug Authority is organizing an awareness campaign on ways to reduce the risks of pharmaceutical preparations and ensure their safe use.
The campaign coincides with Medicines Safety Week, which runs until Nov. 12 and is focusing on “Who can report? — How patients, doctors, and pharmacists contribute to pharmacovigilance.”
Dr. Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadhaie, CEO of the SFDA, said that the initiative highlighted the role of patients and health care practitioners and the reports they provide in protecting against complications and side effects of medication use.
He added: “The SFDA, through its electronic (Saudi) Vigilance System, received many reports of side effects of medicines and vaccines in 2023, and they had a significant impact on issuing several decisions and measures.
“The methods and channels for reporting provided by the SFDA enable patients, health care practitioners, and all members of the community to participate in maintaining patient safety.”
The campaign aims to raise awareness to reduce side effects, and also focuses on the importance of reporting suspected side effects of medicines and vaccines.
The SFDA has provided several methods and channels for reporting via the electronic Saudi Vigilance System, the National Pharmacovigilance Center, the unified call center 19999, or via email ([email protected]).