WHO Opens Its Database Of Medicines Side Effects To The Public

"The World Health Organization has announced that its Global Medicines Safety Database is now open to the general public. The database named VigiAccess can now be accessed on any computer or smartphone in the world. Speakers at a 17 April press briefing said VigiAccess can be access through a user-friendly platform but cannot be used to assess if a medicine is bad or good. According to the VigiAccess website, the database provides suspected side-effects from various medicinal products. The WHO global database for adverse drug reactions is maintained by the Uppsala Monitoring Center (UMC), in Uppsala, Sweden. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director-general, said the database contains some 10 million reports of adverse drug reactions across 110 countries. She said the WHO issued a position statement earlier calling for greater transparency of clinical trials results and now is launching an open access database on adverse drug reactions. Research and knowledge related to health products should become global public goods, she said. The information about adverse drug reactions is vital for governments in public health decision-making, she said, as it is among the top ten causes of death in some countries, she added ..."