07 Nov 2023

Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) is participating in the Med Safety Week campaign alongside over 80 countries to improve the safety of medicines globally.

The campaign started on Monday and will end on November 13.

A press statement from BOMRA states that the collaboration involving more than 80 medicines regulatory agencies and several non-governmental organisations aims to raise awareness about the importance of reporting side effects of medicines.

The theme of the campaign: Who Can Report? focuses on the key role of every patient, doctor, nurse and pharmacist who reports a side effect and contributes to using medicines safely.

“The purpose of safety monitoring is to gain more information about known side effects, find out about new ones and constantly collect and monitor information from the reports received to identify risks associated with medicines and to take action to minimise harm,” states the release.

The release also says all reports made to BOMRA will be thoroughly assessed and examined to determine the right steps to be taken to protect the population from harm.

“Since 2019 BOMRA has received and processed over 7 148 reports in which health professionals, patients and caretakers have played a key role,” it says.

Dr Seima Dijeng, CEO of BOMRA says, ‘every report is important in building more knowledge and understanding of the benefits and risks of medicines in clinical use and allows action to be taken to minimise risks’.

He also says reporting suspected side effects to the authorities helps to make medicines safer for patients all around the world, and that in some cases it can result in better prescribing advice, which can improve patient outcomes.

The release says reports about side effects can be submitted through the downloadable adverse drug reaction reporting form available on the BOMRA website.

The completed forms can be e-mail the to reportadr@bomra.co.bw. Alternatively, you can report directly on the website at www.bomra.co.bw website or through the Medsafety app. Ends