CINTESIS researchers receive award in the field of pharmacovigilance
A group of CINTESIS researchers have just seen their work recognized. At stake is the work developed within the Porto Pharmacovigilance Unit (UFPorto), which received the Best Practices Award Infarmed 25+ Best Performance, granted by INFARMED
The UFPorto is, repeatedly, the Pharmacovigilance Unit operating in the national territory that registers the highest number of reports of adverse drug reactions (ADR). “In recent years, the number of notifications ranges from 800 to 850 per year, most of which refers to serious adverse reactions, which reveals the Unit’s maturity in the context of national pharmacovigilance,” explains Jorge Polónia, coordinator of UFPorto and researcher at CINTESIS.
It should be noted that ADRs are an important Public Health problem, associated with high levels of mortality and morbidity. The more notifications there are, the better the knowledge of the competent authorities about the safety profile of drugs. Health authorities therefore urge healthcare providers and users themselves to report any undesirable symptoms that they think have resulted from taking a medication. This information is precious to the health authorities.
This is why Inês Vaz, responsible for the UFPorto’s technical team, shares this award with those who have notified and partners. “They are the ones that help us every day in the mission of making commercialized drugs safer”, advances the pharmacist and researcher at CINTESIS.
Jorge Polónia evaluates this recognition of INFARMED as “very fair”, given the “excellence of the work developed, despite budgetary and resources constraints and that is mainly due to the effort and dedication of the whole team of the Unit.” The researcher and professor of the Faculty of Medicine of U.Porto (FMUP) also recognizes “the valuable collaboration of other elements of CINTESIS in the execution of scientific works that are being developed in the Unit in a sharing of interests and resources.”
The granting of the Best Practices Awards was held on January 15 in Lisbon, as part of the 25th anniversary of INFARMED that was attended by the Minister of Health, Marta Temido. According to INFARMED, the presentation of these awards is the culmination of a year of activity and aims to “highlight institutions or projects that have somehow become examples of good practices.”
In addition to Jorge Polónia and Inês Vaz, the researchers Joana Marques and Ana Marta Silva, as well as the director of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Altamiro da Costa-Pereira are also members of the team.