Dear Well-wishers,

As I begin chronicling the various Pharmacovigilance events I was involved in during September 2021, for this edition of Oviya MedSafe‘s newsletter for the corresponding month (the 108th in the series since April 2012), I could not help recalling my fond memories of Oviya MedSafe’s early initiatives in celebrating Pharmacovigilance long before the recently established national (Indian) and international Pharmacovigilance observances came into existence. Please click here to read our July 2019 newsletter edition for more details in this regard.

World Patient Safety Day which is observed annually on 17th September became a little more special in India in 2021, as it also marked the beginning of the first ever National Pharmacovigilance Week (17th to 23rd September 2021) announced by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), the National Coordination Centre of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI). Apart from IPC, many organizations and institutions across the country celebrated the National Pharmacovigilance Week by organizing events to promote awareness of Pharmacovigilance in India.

As the first of my activities in this season, I delivered an invited lecture on the topic “Post-Marketing Pharmacovigilance Activities: An Overview” at the virtual workshop organised on 17th September by the Association of Community Pharmacists of India (ACPI) & CliMed Research Solutions! My lecture can be watched on this YouTube link (first one hour). I express my sincere thanks to the organizers (especially Dr Arulkumaran) of this virtual workshop that helped me reach out to young professionals across India on the fundamentals of Pharmacovigilance.

Moving on, I was invited to speak on “Life with Pharmacovigilance” at the National Pharmacovigilance Week 2021 celebration webinar organized by the reputed College of Pharmacy, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore on 20th September. I felt truly honoured that Dr T K Ravi, one of the most renowned academicians in the Pharmacy field in India (and the Principal of the college) not only introduced me with generous words but also listened to my talk completely and asked questions at the end. I thank Dr S Sriram and the entire organizing team for inviting me to take up this privilege. It was heartening to hear from the participants that they found the talk interesting and useful. Please click here to view some snapshots from the event.

Last but not the least; I come to the virtual event that I initiated on 22nd September for the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Headquarters Standing Committee for Pharmacovigilance. Titled “Working Together in Pharmacovigilance for Patient Safety” and structured as a panel discussion involving key stakeholders of Pharmacovigilance in India, the session had distinguished personalities Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi (Secretary cum Scientific Director, IPC), Dr Sanish Davis (President, Indian Society for Clinical Research), Dr Usharani Pingali (Professor & Head of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad) and Dr N K Subramanya (Professor of Paediatrics, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru) as panellists representing their respective stakeholder community, with I moderating it. It was a wonderful occasion for the audience to understand the various facets of Pharmacovigilance from the concerned experts themselves. To watch the entire 2-hour session on YouTube, please click here.

I need to particularly acknowledge the kind gesture of Dr J A Jayalal, respected National President of IMA, who inaugurated the above session in the presence of Honorary Secretary General Dr Jayesh Lele even as they were travelling together for an IMA function. As the Chairman of the IMA HQ Standing Committee for Pharmacovigilance, I remain ever thankful to them for their constant encouragement and support.

Let me conclude by sharing with all of you an article titled ‘Building a Patient Safety Culture in India‘ written by Ms Arshia Bhandari and published in “Uppsala Reports” (an official publication of the Uppsala Monitoring Centre) on 24th September 2021, as it features my quotes on behalf of IMA. I am additionally happy for the fact that this write-up has also touched upon the pioneering steps taken by the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR, whose Pharmacovigilance Council I chaired from 2015 to 2019) for promoting Pharmacovigilance awareness in India. Please click here to read this article.

Thanking you so much for your patient reading and continued interest in our newsletter,

Keen to re-connect with you through our October 2021 edition,

With thanks & regards,
Dr J Vijay Venkatraman
MBBS, F. Diab., MBA, FPIPA (UK)

Managing Director & CEO,
Oviya MedSafe Pvt Ltd,
Coimbatore, India
Phone: +91-422-2444442

Director,
Oviya MedSafe UK Ltd,
London, UK
Phone: +44-8452-733839

Web: www.oviyamedsafe.com
Mail: info@oviyamedsafe.com
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