New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ghaziabad, has signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the Nagaland Medical Council, the Nagaland State Drugs Control Administration (NSDCA), Department of Health & Family Welfare, Nagaland, and the State Pharmacy Council, Government of Nagaland, the Ministry of Health said on Friday.

The MoUs were signed during the one-day training programme on pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance organised by IPC in collaboration with NSDCA.

“The collaboration seeks to strengthen pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance, promote adverse event reporting, build stakeholder capacity, expand adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring centres/ Medical Device Adverse Event Monitoring Centres (MDMCs), and advance safe medicine use through the National Formulary of India across healthcare facilities in Nagaland,” the Ministry said.

Notably, the MoU with Nagaland Drugs Control Administration is IPC’s second MoU, followed by UPFDA, and the first of its kind in the North Eastern region.

The MoU with the Nagaland Medical Council is the first MoU with any State Medical Council in the country for the promotion of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India and Materiovigilance Programme of India, aimed to promote patient safety up to the level of primary health centres in the country.

The MoU with the State Pharmacy Council is the fourth state pharmacy council in the country to sign an MoU for safe and rational use of medicines, enhancing pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance activities, and advancing patient safety initiatives.

Through these MoUs, the IPC is committed to working together with all three organisations, NSDCA, and the Nagaland State Pharmacy Council and Nagaland Medical Council to strengthen pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance activities. It will also promote adverse events reporting with the use of drugs/medical devices and utilise the National Formulary of India (NFI) as a standard reference document across healthcare facilities in Nagaland, supporting rational dispensing and safe medication practices, the Ministry said.

In addition, the MoUs aim to promote capacity building to all stakeholders, including healthcare professionals (physicians, pharmacists, nurses, etc) involved in pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance practices, scientific personnel involved in quality control of medical products, and safe use of medicines through mandatory use of the National Formulary of India.

“IPC is committed to providing all possible technical guidance and expert support for these initiatives, while NSDCA and Nagaland State Pharmacy Council will coordinate with medical colleges/hospitals/pharmacists/drugs inspectors/industry stakeholders, and other healthcare professionals in both public and private healthcare establishments to ensure effective implementation of the agreed activities,” the Ministry said.

–IANS

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