This year, the State Medicines Agency (ZVA) received 66 reports from residents about side effects of medicines, of which 40 were received in April. Last year, during the whole year, only 61 residents’ reports about side effects were received, ZVA representative Tanita Tamme-Zvejniece informed the portal.
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She clarifies that side effects reports have been received this year for antibiotics, hormonal drugs, drugs for the treatment of the cardiovascular system, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as antidiabetic drugs. In April, residents reported such side effects as rashes, dermatitis, increased blood sugar, thrombocytopenia, increased heart rate, panic attacks, and other side effects. Every report received is important in monitoring the safety of medicines.
ZVA reminds that any resident can report any observed reaction that is suspected to be an adverse drug reaction.
In order to be able to submit side reports more quickly and easily, at the beginning of April, ZVA significantly improved the way of submitting the report. Currently, side reports can be submitted by scanning a square code or QR code with a mobile phone and filling out the report form electronically. The square code is available in pharmacies and hospitals throughout Latvia and on the ZVA website.
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You can also report drug side effects on the ZVA website www.zva.gov.lv in the “Patients and the public” section, then selecting the “Drugs” and “Report side effects” sections. If there are difficulties in reporting an observed side effect of a medication, ZVA recommends asking family members, social workers or pharmacists at the pharmacy to help prepare a report and send it to ZVA.
All received side reports are evaluated by ZVA and entered into the international EU database, which collects and evaluates reports from all over Europe and the world.
“We want to encourage and invite every drug user to report to ZVA if an adverse reaction is observed after taking the drug. Reporting makes it possible to discover new and rare side effects faster, and to protect other people from them in the future. All reports submitted by ZVA are evaluated and the information provided in them is taken into account when considering further actions to prevent or reduce harm caused by medicines to people and public health in general,” states Head of ZVA Pharmacovigilance Department Zane Stade.
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If you are concerned that the medicine has caused a side effect, you should first contact your doctor or pharmacist to get medical advice on the necessary action, such as stopping the medicine, reducing the dose or switching to another type of medicine. It is very important to notify the ZVA about these health conditions, which are suspected to be side effects of the medicine.
In order to encourage the public and promote the culture of reporting side effects of medicines in Latvia, ZVA started a public information campaign in April “Are you using medicines? Observe side effects? Report!”. The aim of the campaign is to increase citizens’ awareness of side effects of medicines, understanding of the importance of reporting and to promote reporting of observed side effects to the State Agency of Medicines.
As part of the campaign, several informative materials for the public have been developed – a video clip, an informative booklet for citizens and pharmacists, posters and stickers with a QR code for more convenient reporting of drug side effects.
Tags: number reports received drug side effects increased significantly BauskasDzive .lv
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