In a scientific panel titled 'Pharmacovigilance and the Importance of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Reporting,' held by the College of Pharmacy at the University of Human Development, the adverse effects of drugs on patients and the importance of reporting them to responsible institutions were discussed, with the participation of Dr Shkar Mariwan, MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Asst Prof. Muzaffar Muhammed, PhD in Clinical Biochemistry; and Dr Azad Nuri, MSc in Clinical Pharmacy, in the Seminar Hall on 12 May 2026.

The panel focused on the importance of drug safety and the potential adverse effects of drugs when used by a large number of patients over a period of time. Drugs usually go through clinical trials before they are produced in large quantities and allowed to be used by the general population. But that is not enough. Medicines and vaccines must continuously be monitored after their clinical trials; their undesirable and harmful outcomes must be reported immediately, and their dosages must be changed or their usage stopped.

Adverse effects of drugs are different from side effects. The former cause undesirable harm, severe damage, and sometimes life-threatening problems to the patient that were not foreseen in early trials, while the latter cause mild or manageable problems that were already predicted and often documented in the drug labels. These issues were explained in the panel.

This process of monitoring and reporting adverse effects of drugs needs cooperation and coordination at all levels: public and private hospitals and clinics, related government departments, and pharmaceutical companies. The Kurdistan Region needs to take immediate action in this regard.