The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has developed an animated video in Pashto to raise awareness about reporting suspected adverse events associated with medicines. Developed by the National Pharmacovigilance Centre (NPC), the initiative aims to make medicine safety information more accessible to patients and healthcare professionals, particularly Pashto-speaking communities. The video explains how suspected side effects and other medicine-related safety concerns can be reported through available channels, helping address language barriers that may prevent people from understanding or using existing reporting mechanisms.
The initiative forms part of DRAP’s efforts to improve pharmacovigilance, the process of detecting, assessing, understanding and preventing adverse effects and other problems associated with medicines. Reporting suspected reactions allows health authorities to collect information about potential risks and identify safety concerns that may require further investigation. Patients and healthcare professionals can contribute by reporting unusual or suspected reactions, even when the connection between a medicine and a symptom has not been confirmed. Such reports help regulators assess medicine safety and support decisions intended to protect public health.
DRAP has encouraged patients and healthcare professionals to report suspected adverse events to the Provincial Pharmacovigilance Centre of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or the National Pharmacovigilance Centre. The authority has also made an adverse event reporting form available online to facilitate submissions. By explaining the process through an animated format in Pashto, the regulator aims to make the information easier to understand and help more people become familiar with the available reporting options. Better awareness can support participation from both healthcare providers and medicine users in the monitoring process.
The Pashto-language video adds to DRAP’s wider efforts to communicate medicine safety information through accessible formats and reporting guidance. Pharmacovigilance depends not only on regulatory oversight but also on timely information from people who use medicines and professionals who prescribe or dispense them. Improving access to reporting instructions in local languages can help reduce communication barriers and encourage greater public participation. DRAP’s initiative is intended to improve awareness of adverse event reporting and support the continued monitoring of medicine safety across Pakistan.
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