The number of reports received about medication side effects has increased significantly

Since the Public Information Campaign “Use medicines? Observe side effects? Report!” started by the State Medicines Agency (ZVA). the number of reports received about medication side effects has increased significantly, ZVA public relations specialist Tanita Tamme-Zvejniece informed the LETA agency.

In total, this year ZVA received 66 reports from citizens about side effects of medicines, which is more than during the whole of last year, when only 61 reports were received, and 40 reports were received in April.

This year, side effects were reported 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. The square code will take you to a resident bug report form.

You can also report side effects of medicines on the ZVA website “www.zva.gov.lv”; under “Patients and the public”, then selecting “Medications” and “Report side effects”. If there are difficulties in reporting an observed side effect of a medication, we recommend asking family members, a social worker or a pharmacist at the pharmacy to help prepare a report and send it to the 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 would like to encourage and invite every drug user to report to ZVA if an adverse reaction is observed after taking the drug. Reporting allows new and rare side effects to be discovered faster and to protect other people from them in the future. All reports submitted to ZVA are evaluated and the information provided in them is taken into account , considering further actions to prevent or reduce the harm caused by medicines to people and public health in general,” says Zane Stade, head of the Pharmacovigilance Department of ZVA.

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 “Use 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 ZVA.