Kano Strengthens Pharmacovigilance Efforts as North-West Coordinator Begins North-West Tour

Efforts to strengthen medicine-safety monitoring across Nigeria's North-West Zone have received renewed attention following the commencement of a zonal tour by the North-West Zonal Pharmacovigilance Coordinator, Pharm. F. F. Garnett.

The tour, which is planned across the seven states in the zone, began in Kano State with engagements involving the State Ministry of Health, regulatory stakeholders and selected healthcare facilities.

The initiative is focused on strengthening pharmacovigilance structures, improving adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and promoting the integration of medicine-safety monitoring into routine healthcare delivery.

Engagement with Kano State Health Authorities

The Kano leg began with a strategic meeting at the Kano State Ministry of Health, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the state of pharmacovigilance and opportunities for strengthening its implementation.

The coordinator met with the Kano State NAFDAC Coordinator and four directors, including the Director of Public Health. The State Commissioner for Health was unavailable during the engagement as he was performing Umrah.

Discussions focused on the proposed establishment of a State Pharmacovigilance Committee, nomination of Pharmacovigilance Focal Persons and the development of a clear roadmap for strengthening pharmacovigilance activities across healthcare facilities in the state.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for further stakeholder engagement on improving ADR reporting and making pharmacovigilance a more integrated part of routine healthcare delivery.

Taking Pharmacovigilance to the Facility Level

The tour subsequently moved to selected healthcare facilities, where the coordinator engaged personnel responsible for pharmacovigilance activities and discussed the realities of medicine-safety monitoring at facility level.

The facilities visited were Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital, Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital and Armed Forces Specialist Hospital, Kano.

Across the engagements, discussions centred on challenges and barriers affecting ADR reporting, gaps in pharmacovigilance implementation and opportunities to strengthen existing reporting systems.

At Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, the coordinator met with the hospital's Pharmacovigilance Focal Person, while the engagement at Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital included the hospital's Pharmacovigilance Focal Person and Director of Finance.

At Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, the coordinator engaged the hospital's Pharmacovigilance Focal Person. At Armed Forces Specialist Hospital, the engagement involved members of the hospital's Pharmacovigilance Committee.

The discussions placed particular emphasis on continuous capacity building for healthcare professionals, stronger feedback mechanisms and closer collaboration among stakeholders.

These are important components of an effective pharmacovigilance system. Reporting a suspected adverse reaction is only one part of the process; healthcare facilities also need personnel who understand reporting procedures, functional structures to support the process and mechanisms for ensuring that safety information is appropriately communicated and acted upon.

Public Awareness Included in the Strategy

The coordinator also highlighted the importance of public enlightenment and awareness campaigns as part of efforts to strengthen medicine safety.

Patients and members of the public may experience suspected adverse reactions but may not always recognise the importance of reporting them or know where to report them. Improving public awareness can therefore broaden participation in pharmacovigilance and increase the amount of safety information available to the health system.

For healthcare professionals, strengthening public awareness also creates an opportunity to reinforce conversations about medicine safety during routine patient care.

Why the Initiative Matters

Pharmacovigilance provides an important mechanism for monitoring the safety of medicines during their real-world use. Information from suspected adverse reactions can contribute to the identification and assessment of potential safety concerns and support regulatory and clinical decision-making.

NAFDAC's national pharmacovigilance framework includes reporting of suspected adverse reactions and other medicine-related safety concerns and recognises the role of decentralised pharmacovigilance structures in strengthening safety monitoring and reporting across the country.

For the North-West, strengthening these structures at state and facility levels could help create a more consistent pathway for medicine-safety information to move from patients and healthcare professionals into the broader pharmacovigilance system.

Beyond the Kano Visit

The Kano engagement represents the first documented stop in the North-West Zonal Pharmacovigilance Coordinator's planned tour of the seven states in the zone.

Its focus on state-level coordination, hospital focal persons, pharmacovigilance committees, capacity building, ADR reporting and public awareness reflects a broader effort to strengthen the foundations of medicine-safety monitoring.

The longer-term value of the initiative, however, will depend on what follows the engagements: stronger coordination, active pharmacovigilance structures, improved reporting and effective feedback between healthcare facilities, regulators and other stakeholders.

As the tour progresses across the North-West, attention will therefore shift from the meetings themselves to how the issues identified and strategies discussed translate into stronger pharmacovigilance practice.

Source/Information Note:
Pharmacy Times Nigeria compiled this report from information provided on the Kano leg of the North-West Zonal Pharmacovigilance Coordinator's tour, with background context drawn from relevant national pharmacovigilance guidance.