The workshop for the preparation and validation of the draft decree establishing a national pharmacovigilance system in the Republic of Congo, supervised by the Director of Pharmacy and Medicines, Dr Boniface Okouya (Member of Africlinique) was held from 23 to 24 October 2020 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. This workshop was also devoted to the development of the national pharmacovigilance guide and the notification forms for adverse reactions to medical products which are part of the tools of the national pharmacovigilance system.
Dr Boniface Okouya included this workshop within the framework of the pharmaceutical reform process. Indeed, “As part of its sovereign role of guaranteeing public health in the Republic of Congo, the Congolese government, under the leadership of the Minister of Health, Population, Promotion of Women and Integration of women in development, Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, is firmly committed to the process of pharmaceutical reform. The establishment of a national pharmacovigilance system is one of the key results expected from this reform” said Dr Boniface Okouya, in his capacity as the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (ANRP).
A strong pharmacovigilance in Central Africa is also an objective of the EDCTP-funded project Africlinique.
The Africlinique Project Manager, Jolivet Mayela, Project Manager also at the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research (FCRM) headed by Prof. Francine Ntoumi (also Africlinique Coordinator), believes that the establishment of a national pharmacovigilance system should crown all the efforts of the last decade. “Because, in terms of drug safety, the ministry in charge of health has the mandate, through the Department of Pharmacy and Medicines, to guarantee the rational use of medicines and health products to the populations. Indeed, badly used or stored drugs can become more harmful than a poison” he said. Jolivet Mayela also welcomed the fact that the draft decree also takes into account the need to better regulate the use of traditional health products, whether improved or not.
