Kenya launches digital tool for monitoring safety of health commodities

NAIROBI, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Wednesday launched a mobile electronic platform to enhance the monitoring of quality, safety and efficacy of medicine and health products in order to protect consumers from harm.

Rashid Aman, the chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health, said the Mobile Pharmacovigilance Electronic Reporting System (MPvERS) will provide detailed first-hand information about citizens' experience with drugs.

"This technology will enable the people to report adverse events for over-the-counter medicines, herbal medicines, vaccines and report on suspected poor quality health products," Aman said during the launch of the digital platform in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

He noted that the public is increasingly becoming aware of health-related matters including disease conditions, management and adverse events following medication use, adding that the reporting tool will ensure consumers are actively involved in drug safety promotion.

Aman said technology has been developed to supplement the existing national reporting system PvERS II which was launched in March 2021 to increase and improve consumer reporting and Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) reporting. He promised that the government is committed to providing citizens with safe, quality and efficacious medical products and health technologies.

Fred Siyoi, chief executive officer of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), said the reporting tool provides a reporting platform in the form of a mobile application for both Android and iPhone operating systems and an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) solution.

Siyoi revealed that the technology has been developed with support from overseas donors, adding that regional blocs have also supported initiatives aimed at boosting drug safety and efficacy in Kenya.