Pharmacovigilance and new essential drugs in Africa: Zambia draws lessons from its own experiences and beyond

Knowledge, awareness, perception and reporting of experienced adverse drug reactions among outpatients in Nigeria

Background Higher incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Most targeted ADR reporting activities are mainly professional-centered with less attention to patients' knowledge, perception and selfreporting of experienced ADRs. Objectives To comprehensively evaluate patients' knowledge, awareness, perception and reporting of experienced ADRs. Setting Three public healthcare facilities in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Method A questionnaire-guided cross-sectional interview of 1190 consented ambulatory adult patients consecutively recruited from various clinics of the selected hospitals between February and June 2018. The 32-item pretested questionnaire comprised open- and closed-ended questions, as well as open-ended questions with relevant prompts. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics, while Chi square was used to investigate association between relevant categorical variables at p < 0.05. Main outcome measure Knowledge, awareness, perception and reporting of experienced ADRs among patients. Results Response rate was 99.1%. Mean age was 40.6 ± 14.9 years. Forty-nine (4.1%) patients were aware of pharmacovigilance. A total of 964 (81.0%) correctly understood what can be regarded as serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs), 444 (37.3%) had previously experienced ADRs, while 77 (6.5%) experienced reactions with current medication(s). Of this, 64 (83.1%) made a report largely to physician (52; 81.3%). Summarily, reported reactions were more with antimalarials (214; 49.1%), with itching (168; 78.5%) constituting the most frequently occurring reaction. Use of text message (276; 27.2%) and filling of ADR report form (248; 24.4%) were topmost on the list of suggested methods for ADR reporting. There was a significant association between patient's age and awareness of pharmacovigilance (p = 0.015), while educational qualification (p = 0.001) significantly influenced tendency to make a report of experienced ADRs. Conclusion Approximately four percent of patients were aware of pharmacovigilance, while more than three-quarters correctly understood the concept of serious adverse drug reactions. A little above one-quarter had previously experienced one form of reaction or the other, with majority reporting such reactions to physician. Continuous education of stakeholders in pharmacovigilance activities is advocated, while patient's active involvement in spontaneous reporting of ADRs should be carefully considered.

Pharmacovigilance in developing countries (part I): importance and challenges

The thalidomide disaster was the significant historical event that acted as a catalyst for pharmacovigilance activity. Following this event developed countries initiated drug monitoring systems that evolved and now extend their scope to broader drug-related safety issues; however, this was not the case in developing countries. Pharmacovigilance is still a relatively new concept with low priority in developing countries although various issues are raising concerns that magnify the need for systems to monitor post marketing drug safety in these countries. This article analyzes the barriers to introducing robust pharmacovigilance systems in developing countries.

Pharmacovigilance systems in developing countries: an evaluative case study in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND

Burkina Faso, like other Sub-Saharan African countries, has recently experienced a large-scale deployment of new medicines for the prevention and treatment of notable diseases of public health interest, including malaria, HIV/AIDS and meningitis. This new context rendered the implementation of pharmacovigilance necessary in order to monitor and establish the safety and effectiveness of these medicines. In 2008, the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso, West Africa, launched a formal pharmacovigilance system to respond to this need.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the early-stage pharmacovigilance system of Burkina Faso through a comprehensive and system-based approach with the prospect of identifying areas for improvements.

METHODS

We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso. Sixteen key informants from the National Drug Authority (NDA), public health programmes (PHPs) and hospitals were interviewed. Study participants were selected based on a convenience sampling in the NDA, three teaching hospitals, two regional hospitals and six PHPs. Data were collected using the Indicator-based Pharmacovigilance Assessment Tool (IPAT), a metric instrument recently designed and validated by 'Management Sciences for Health', a US non-profit organization. The evaluation also involved the collection and review of relevant pharmacovigilance-related documentation in the institutions assessed. A scoring system was used for the quantification of assessment results.

RESULTS

The NDA of Burkina Faso, the institution statutorily in charge of pharmacovigilance, achieved a performance score of 70 %. The basic structures for pharmacovigilance activities were in place; however, the lack of specific laws dedicated to pharmacovigilance, the lack of national guidelines and standard operating procedures on pharmacovigilance, and the insufficient coordination of pharmacovigilance stakeholders in the country were identified as the main weaknesses. Safety data collected thus far have not led to the identification of local drug-related risks; yet, relevant external safety alerts are monitored and acted upon. In 2010, 31 marketing authorizations were modified to include new safety information; seven others were suspended and the corresponding medicines were withdrawn from the national market. In PHPs, pharmacovigilance activities were not formalized, and in hospitals, pharmacovigilance structures were still under development.

CONCLUSION

Relevant interventions aimed at strengthening the legal framework and structures for pharmacovigilance activities, and improving the coordination of stakeholders countrywide, should be undertaken as soon as possible. Such an investment is necessary before the national pharmacovigilance system is able to collect its own data, generate signals, evaluate and manage local medicine-related risks and then become a genuine tool for public health.

Global patterns of adverse drug reactions over a decade: analyses of spontaneous reports to VigiBase™

BACKGROUND

Although systems to collect information about suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were established in many countries and by the WHO in the 1960s, few studies have examined reported ADRs related to national income.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to characterize ADRs reported to the WHO-ADR database, VigiBase™, and to relate data to national income.

METHODS

We analysed ADR reports submitted to VigiBase™ from 2000 to 2009 with respect to reporting rate, age and sex of patient, type, seriousness and medications. Reports were also analysed with respect to national income level, classified in accordance with the World Bank definition: low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high.

RESULTS

We analysed 1,359,067 ADR reports including 3,013,074 ADRs. Overall, 16% of reports were serious and 60% were reported for females. High-income countries had the highest ADR reporting rates (range 3-613 reports/million inhabitants/year) and low-income countries the lowest (range 0-21). Distribution of ADRs across income groups with respect to age group, seriousness and sex was non-significant. Overall, the majority of ADRs were reported for nervous system medications, followed by cardiovascular medicines. Low-income countries reported relatively more ADRs for antiinfectives for systemic use than high-income countries, and high-income countries reported more ADRs for antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents than lower-income groups.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that high-income countries had the highest ADR reporting rates and low-income countries the lowest, with large variations across countries in each group. Significant differences in ADR reporting rates were only found for ADRs of the type 'skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders' and for the therapeutic groups 'antiinfectives for systemic use' and 'antineoplastic and immunomodulation agents'. To strengthen ADR reporting rates, especially in low-income countries, more research is needed about the impact of organizational structures and economic resources of national pharmacovigilance centres and ADR reporting practices on the large variations in ADR reporting rates within income groups.

Use of a text message-based pharmacovigilance tool in Cambodia: pilot study

Background

There is no functional pharmacovigilance system in Cambodia to our knowledge. Mobile phone–based tools, such as short message service (SMS) text messages, are increasingly used for surveillance purposes.

Objective

To pilot-test the FrontlineSMS mobile phone–based tool for notification of adverse events, using Cambodia’s only International Vaccination Center at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge as a field site.

Methods

People receiving vaccinations, aged over 18 years, and who owned a cell phone were recruited in the study following informed consent. The names and mobile phone numbers of the participants interviewed were entered each day into the FrontlineSMS software. Two days after being vaccinated, participants received an automatically generated SMS text message asking whether any adverse events had occurred. Their SMS reply was number-coded and exported from the software daily to an Excel spreadsheet and examined before being saved. If the participant replied with a code for a severe adverse event (8 or 9), they were automatically advised to consult the nearest doctor.

Results

The active surveillance study was conducted over 72 days in the spring of 2012. Patients agreed to be asked by SMS text message whether unwanted events had occurred after vaccination. Of 1331 persons aged over 18 years referred to the vaccination unit, 184 (13.8%) were asked and agreed to participate. When texted for clinical status 48 hours after vaccination, 52 (28.3%) participants did not reply, 101 (54.9%) sent an immediate SMS reply, and 31 (16.8%) sent an SMS reply after additional prompting. Of the initial 184 participants, 132 (71.7%) replied. These 132 participants received 135 vaccine doses and 109 (82.6%) reported no adverse events, whereas 23 (17.4%) reported adverse events, all benign.

Conclusions

Notification using an SMS-based text message system is already used in Cambodia for syndromic surveillance in health centers and reporting by health care workers. Our results show that such tools can also be useful for notification by patients or health users in Cambodia, especially in an urban setting.

Recent advances in pharmacovigilance of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected and exposed children

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has greatly improved the survival of HIV-infected children. However, ART is associated with immediate and long-term adverse events. Pharmacovigilance systems, although imperfect, have been developed in many high-income countries (HICs), but coverage in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is poor and uneven. This review covers the recent advances in the understanding of adverse events following perinatal ART exposure, including surveillance from birth cohorts; we also describe the adverse events of antiretroviral drugs among HIV-infected children, focussing particularly on those relevant to LMICs, where more than 90% of HIV-infected children live.

RECENT FINDINGS

ART is largely safe in both HIV-infected and HIV-exposed uninfected children, in whom no significant increase in birth defects has been noted. Among HIV-infected children, toxicity to some drugs may be less frequent than in adults, possibly related to immature immune systems in younger children. As per WHO guidelines, many countries are moving from stavudine-based to zidovudine-based or abacavir-based fixed-dose combination (with nevirapine/lamivudine) paediatric mini-pills. However, reassuring data are emerging about short-term stavudine use in LMICs, as this remains an important first-line regimen for young children, as well as an alternative to zidovudine for anaemic children. Zidovudine appears to be well tolerated in young children living in nonmalarious areas, and, among African children, concerns about abacavir hypersensitivity have not been substantiated.

SUMMARY

Optimization of first-line ART regimens needs to take account of the toxicities in HIV-infected children, in particular as they will take ART much longer than adults and during the period of growth and development. The benefits of ART in pregnancy are clear, but long-term follow-up of ART-exposed infants in LMICs through integrated surveillance systems would be invaluable.

Pharmacodynamic and antiretroviral activities of combination nanoformulated antiretrovirals in HIV-1-infected human peripheral blood lymphocyte-reconstituted mice

Lack of adherence, inaccessibility to viral reservoirs, long-term drug toxicities, and treatment failures are limitations of current antiretroviral therapy (ART). These limitations lead to increased viral loads, medicine resistance, immunocompromise, and comorbid conditions. To this end, we developed long-acting nanoformulated ART (nanoART) through modifications of existing atazanavir, ritonavir, and efavirenz suspensions in order to establish cell and tissue drug depots to achieve sustained antiretroviral responses. NanoART's abilities to affect immune and antiviral responses, before or following human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection were tested in nonobese severe combined immune-deficient mice reconstituted with human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Weekly subcutaneous injections of drug nanoformulations at doses from 80 mg/kg to 250 mg/kg, 1 day before and/or 1 and 7 days after viral exposure, elicited drug levels that paralleled the human median effective concentration, and with limited toxicities. NanoART treatment attenuated viral replication and preserved CD4(+) Tcell numbers beyond that seen with orally administered native drugs. These investigations bring us one step closer toward using long-acting antiretrovirals in humans.

Pregnancy exposure registries for assessing antimalarial drug safety in pregnancy in malaria-endemic countries

Feiko ter Kuile and colleagues argue that there is an urgent need to develop targeted pharmacovigilance systems to assess the safety of antimalarials in early pregnancy.