New report examines post-market safety surveillance for drugs, vaccines

“To fight many of the diseases that plague the world’s poorest, we need tools — safe and effective drugs and vaccines that can reduce unnecessary suffering and afford millions the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives. An essential part of having the right tools, and making sure that the right patients are getting and using them in the right way, is post-market safety surveillance…,” Trevor Mundel, president of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog. He highlights a Gates Foundation-supported report (.pdf), titled “Strengthening Post-Market Safety Surveillance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” He concludes, “This report represents innovative thinking in the field and has provided us with a plan for moving forward. Now it is our responsibility to work together on making it a reality” (2/17).