Pharmacovigilance in Cameroon: Past, Present and Future Developments in Unlocking the Drug Development Process
Estella Achick Tembe Fokunang
Department of Pharmacotoxicology and Pharmacokinetics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
Bruna Njeba
Department of Pharmacotoxicology and Pharmacokinetics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
Marie Jose Essi
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
Rose Ngono Abondo
Department of Traditional Medicine and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
Banin Andrew Nyuki
Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Lovet Benyella Fokunang
Lead Scientist GE Life Sciences CYTIVA, Logan, Utah, USA.
Nubia Kaba
Department of Clinical Research, Revance Therapeutic Incorporated, Newark California, USA.
Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoua
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
Ralf Duerr
Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Charles Ntungwen Fokunang *
Department of Pharmacotoxicology and Pharmacokinetics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The drug discovery and development processes are designed to guarantee that drugs are efficacious, nontoxic and of high standards of quality for human consumption. However, patient’s population with access to drugs at approval is only a fraction of the final target population. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the safety of medicines is generally only achieved after the marketing authorization of the drug, followed by pharmacovigilance or post marketing surveillance. Pharmacovigilance (PHV) is defined by WHO as “the science and activities that deals with the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of the adverse drug reactions or any other possible drug-related interactions”. Health professionals, patients, drug manufacturers and drug regulatory authorities are therefore highly involved in the practice of PHV.
Cameroon imports 95 % of drugs and health care products. Therefore, an effective mastery of the knowledge, attitude and practice of PHV will help to elaborate the development of our pharmacovigilance systems. This paper gives an overview of pharmacovigilance in Cameroon for unlocking the drug development process focusing on the past, present and future.
Keywords: Pharmacovigilance, Drug discovery, development, Cameroon.