Journal of Pharmacovigilance

Abstract

Pharmacovigilance Awareness among the Community Pharmacists and Pharmacy Students in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Sahan Saygi, Fehmi B Alkas, Ilker Etikan, Ilker Gelisen and Semra Sardas

All healthcare professionals, other healthcare workers, patient caregivers, patients and even their families are all important to the healthcare system and pharmacists in every country are an important part of this system, and have a major duty to maintain and monitor the safety and efficacy of drugs as an integral part of their professional practice. Since pharmacovigilance is an indispensable part of the clinical discipline for detecting, assessing, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other possible drug-related problems, the knowledge of pharmacists about spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions is the cornerstone of pharmacovigilance for patient care and safety. On the other hand, the worldwide reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) by healthcare professionals, in particular those in developing countries are with poor contribution. Therefore, the knowledge and perception of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting of 67 community pharmacists and Near East University (NEU) Faculty of Pharmacy students on their 1st (n=83) and 4th (n=79) years were investigated in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The observed results point out that the standards of training and education need to be improved for pharmacists and undergraduates alike giving rise to the design and implementation of more effective training for drug safety.