International meeting in Rabat for the creation of a pharmacovigilance cooperation network in western Mediterranean

Since 2011, IPEMED has been working towards the implementation of a cooperation dynamic in the health sector, as part of the 5+5 Dialogue, gathering ten western Mediterranean countries. During the various meetings of the work group “health in western Mediterranean” created in this framework, three thematic priorities were identified : pharmacovigilance, health coverage and pharmaceutical biotechnologies.

The meeting, organised by the Poison Control and Pharmacovigilance Centre of Morocco and held on 15th and 16th of January in Rabat, was the first of the technical work group dedicated to this issue. The seven participating countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) were able to present their respective surveillance and warning systems, question their practices and implemented methods and consider tangible areas of collaboration like, for instance, in the field of patient implication in the reporting and warning system.

In spite of major differences between, in the North, national systems organised in order to meet the new requirements of the European legislation, and in the South, systems featuring a diversified and irregular expertise, the participants underlined the importance to keep exchanging within the 5+5 Dialogue to improve pharmaceutical surveillance and prevent the risks of potential medicine undesirable effects. Following this meeting, all the participants approved a series of recommendations (see attached document) showing the interest of these exchanges and the cooperation opportunities existing in this field. They will be addressed to the concerned ministers.

Following this seminar, a first meeting of 5+5 Dialogue Ministers of Health could be held in 2015, hosted by the Moroccan Minister of Health. A second meeting of the technical work group is also foreseen for September 2015.

As a permanent observer member of this Dialogue, IPEMED supports this dynamic and offers its expertise in this field.