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Pharmacovigilance in China: development and challenges

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Abstract

Background Rational drug use and drug safety are becoming increasingly important concerns in China with the increasing public access to drugs and the health-care system, and this has led to the development of pharmacovigilance in China. Aim of the review To provide a brief introduction about pharmacovigilance in China in terms of system development, utilization and challenges. Method Relevant studies on pharmacovigilance related to the study aim was undertaken through literature search to synthesize the extracted data. Results The creation and evolvement of China’s pharmacovigilance system spans across 30 years since 1989. The system consists of four progressing administrative layers: county, municipal, provincial and national levels. China has passed over 20 laws and regulations related to pharmacovigilance covering the processes of drug development, manufacture, distribution and use with the aim to guard drug safety. An online spontaneous self-reporting Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Monitoring System was established in 2003. ADRs are mainly reported by medical institutions, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and drug distributors. Currently there is no mandatory ADR reporting requirement for pharmaceutical manufacturers, and a proposed regulation under public comment will likely change this. China has started to build active pharmacovigilance surveillance programs in addition to the passive ADR reporting system. The China Food and Drug Administration has established the intensive Safety Monitoring Program and the National Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Sentinel Alliance Program based on electronic health records to further the efforts of ADR reporting, monitoring and analysis. Conclusion The practice of ADR monitoring and pharmacovigilance in China have made great progress. More efforts are needed both in system building, and creation of laws and regulations to strengthen the safe use of medicines.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Matthew T. Murphy on the language editing.

Funding

This paper received no funding from any agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflicts of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Ying Zhao

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Ying Zhao & Guangyao Li

  3. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Tiansheng Wang

  4. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Guangyao Li

  5. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western New England University, Springfield, MA, USA

    Shusen Sun

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  1. Ying Zhao
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  2. Tiansheng Wang
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Correspondence to Shusen Sun.

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Zhao, Y., Wang, T., Li, G. et al. Pharmacovigilance in China: development and challenges. Int J Clin Pharm 40, 823–831 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-018-0693-x

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