Substandard medicines, whether the result of intentional manipulation or lack of compliance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) or good distribution practice (GDP), pose a significant potential threat to patient safety. Spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting systems can contribute to identification of quality problems that cause unwanted and/or harmful effects, and to identification of clusters of lack of efficacy. In 2011, the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) constructed a novel algorithm to identify reporting patterns suggestive of substandard medicines in spontaneous reporting, and applied it to VigiBase(®), the World Health Organization's global individual case safety report database. The algorithm identified some historical clusters related to substandard products, which were later able to be confirmed in the literature or by contact with national centres (NCs). As relevant and detailed information is often lacking in the VigiBase reports but might be available at the reporting NC, further evaluation of the algorithm was undertaken with involvement from NCs.
The national pharmacovigilance program in Malaysia is limited to very few centers and under-reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a major limitation. Studies from developed countries have documented the importance and usefulness of consumer reporting of ADRs. Involving consumers in ADR reporting can be very useful in improving the reporting rates in Malaysia. The present article highlights the proposed plan of initiating a consumer based pharmacovigilance program in University Wellness Center located inside the campus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.