Leveraging Pharmacovigilance to Build Trust and Strengthen Health Policy

During the first 2 years of the pandemic, the importance of drug safety in building trust between citizens and institutions for the protection of Public Health was highlighted. At the same time, it became apparent that there are many gaps in the education of healthcare professionals in reporting possible adverse events, making it even more difficult to implement measures protecting Public Health (such as vaccination) due to inadequate communication of basic concepts of Pharmacovigilance (PV) and patient safety to the general public. The above, combined with the chronic deficiencies in infrastructure and inadequate or even non-existent procedures, had significant implications both for the protection of Public Health and for the trust of citizens in the Healthcare system, the competent bodies and ultimately the institutions themselves. In Greece, there is minimal education in Pharmacovigilance and its basic concepts, even in schools such as medicine, nursing and pharmacy. In recent years, some efforts have started at the postgraduate level, but overall, the weight given to this issue is quite inadequate. However, if we why we need Pharmacovigilance and think about how it could directly and indirectly improve the protection of Public Health, then it will be clear why it needs to be introduced in the education of future health professionals and become something like their second nature and way of thinking. In Greece, there is minimal education in Pharmacovigilance and its basic concepts, even in schools such as medicine, nursing and pharmacy. In recent years, some efforts have started at the postgraduate level, but overall, the weight given to this issue is quite inadequate. However, if we why we need Pharmacovigilance and think about how it could directly and indirectly improve the protection of Public Health, then it will be clear why it needs to be introduced in the education of future health professionals and become something like their second nature and way of thinking.