The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has adjudged the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s (KBTH) Pharmacy Department as the best in the country.
The achievement followed a review of the facility’s pharmacovigilance reports of 2021 by the Authority, a statement from KBTH, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said.
Pharmacovigilance, also known as drug safety, is the pharmaceutical science relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects associated with pharmaceutical products.
The spontaneous adverse reports on patients on treatment are made by health workers (particularly doctors and pharmacists) and submitted to the FDA for causality assessment.
The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, according to the statement, had safety monitoring contact for Pharmacists at all clinical departments to collaborate with other health workers to identify and report adverse effects involving drugs, contrasts media, medical devices, blood and submit them to the FDA.
It said the Pharmacy Department reported over 120 adverse events in 2021, which placed it at the top of the chart, gaining the Hospital more credibility.
Due to the achievement, the statement said Madam Stella Selassie Ahiate, a Senior Pharmacist and safety monitoring person at the Anti–Retroviral Therapy (ART) Adherence Counseling Unit, was selected as the focal person for the Greater Accra Region.
In an interview with her, she said the recognition of performance from the FDA was a milestone, which proved the positive impact pharmacists and other health workers made by monitoring the safety of drugs in hospitals.
Explaining her passion for patients’ safety and the rationale use of drugs, she said the role of a pharmacist was to ensure that patients obtained the best therapeutic outcome from their treatment.
