Pharmacovigilance in ASU and H Drugs: Standard in Healthcare

Abstract

Pharmacovigilance (PV) program of India (PVPI) aims to develop a comprehensive PV strategy for the drugs that come under allopathic system of medicine. However, most of the population is still using alternative systems of medicine (ASM) alone or with allopathic medication without knowing the effects. The PV in India is still in its infancy mode due to lack of appropriate clinical data. Our PV initiatives intended in the ASM, which included Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani. This was due to dearth of reports on investigations and research work involving ASM. To assess the current and previously reported toxicities in various ASM, the toxicity data from treatments listed various systems of medicines were collected and listed. Data collated from various research studies suggested that there were many reported toxicities and numerous adverse drug reactions (ADRs), not generally known to many people including the healthcare professionals. Still, high number of such incidences are yet to be studied systematically and taken care of the prophylactic measures and the ultimate goal of uplifting and implementing PV.